Harry Potter: Sacrifice
by Bear12
Summary: Sequel to Traitor. The Wizarding World reels following the tragedy that has befallen it. The Order of the Phoenix must respond, not only to stem Voldemort's growing influence within the Ministry but also to prevent itself from shattering from within.
1. Prologue

_AN: Here is the Prologue to the final book: Sacrifice. _  
_You need to read all books in the series first before reading this. In order they are: Lost, Connections, Revelation, Identity, Traitor and Sacrifice._  
_ Thanks to my beta Arnel for all her work on all the stories_

* * *

**June 23rd 1997  
Alastor Moody's Residence**

Arthur looked at each person who was currently sitting around the table in the dining room of Alastor Moody's house. It seemed as if none of the members of the Order of The Phoenix quite knew what to do or what to say. The room felt _empty _without Albus Dumbledore.

Arthur didn't know exactly what had happened the night Dumbledore had died. All he knew was that Albus had died and the boy he had come to think of as his seventh son had been accused, and seemingly already convicted by the Ministry.

Unfortunately, as a result of the accusations made against him, Adam had run. It seemed to be an unfortunate recurring trait in the boy's life that he was accused of things he didn't do. Arthur was certain he had been abused as a child due to his magical nature. Even Molly had been guilty of accusing him over the incidents surrounding the Chamber of Secrets and Adam had been openly accused by the Ministry of calling the Dark Mark at the Quidditch World Cup.

Arthur could understand Adam's reluctance to stay around when people were accusing him of murder. Ironically, this was the one time that if he had stayed to fight his case, he would have had people who would support him. Arthur knew that he and his wife would definitely support him. Arthur had known, even before his daughter had pleaded Adam's innocence to him, that he could not have done such a thing. Adam had had a hard life, but he wasn't a murderer.

Arthur had suspected for several years that there was more than just friendship between Adam and Ginny, but when the family had been attacked by You-Know-Who's followers last Christmas, he had known there was something much deeper between the two of them. The way they had both fought so ferociously to defend each other and the family, the way they had clung to each other after the battle, and when he had found them together on the sofa in the Gryffindor common room the next morning. That was when he had known for certain.

In the last year, Arthur had begun to realise that there was something extraordinary about Adam, something hidden just beneath the surface. Even Albus had alluded to it after the events of last Christmas. This was definitely a good thing, in Arthur's opinion, which is why it was even more inexplicable to him that these accusations had been levelled against Adam.

"Right," Moody said gruffly, disturbing Arthur from his introspection. "I think everyone knows why we are here."

"We're missing Tonks and Molly," Minerva murmured quietly.

"Yes," Alastor replied. "Tonks is currently in St Mungo's. The healers thing the baby is coming early..."

At this Minerva gasped. "Will the baby be alright?"

"I had a letter from Tonk's mother. She said that mother and baby should be fine, but they are in St Mungo's as a precaution."

"Alastor," Arthur added, once the whispered conversations caused by Alastor's announcement had quietened down. "Molly was busy today I am afraid, things have been somewhat hectic," he finished vaguely.

Truthfully, Molly hadn't wanted to face the people that could accuse Adam of such a crime.

Several people around the table nodded their heads.

"You-Know-Who has moved quickly and has managed to take advantage of Albus' death," Moody began, without further introduction. "And we are now in a dire situation. Times are now as dark as they were at the height of the last war. The Order of the Phoenix must respond."

"What's happened, Alastor?" Hestia Jones asked in exasperation.

"This hasn't hit the press yet, and if You-Know-Who has anything to say about it, it probably won't," Moody paused. "Fudge, Bones and Scrimgeour never returned from Albus' funeral."

Cries of outrage erupted around the table, and Arthur felt sick. Had You-Know-Who managed in one stroke to eliminate most of their senior political leadership?

"Silence!" Moody roared, as if he was speaking to a class of teenagers. "If they do not turn up soon, then the Wizengamot will be forced to vote in a new minister."

"Which could be anyone," Kingsley added dryly. "With who knows what loyalties," he thumped his fist on the table. "We knew there was someone under the Imperius Curse in the Department of Magical Transportation, but how in blazes they were able to sabotage the official Portkeys for the returning dignitaries I don't know..." he spat.

"In short," Moody surmised. "The Ministry is screwed. If You-Know-Who is able to influence the outcome of any forthcoming Ministerial elections... "

"Then he has control of the country..." Arthur murmured. "Without having to fight any battles..."

"Do we have evidence that Fudge is definitely dead, then?" Minerva asked.

"They don't need it," Arthur said thinking about the current climate at the Ministry. "With the Minister missing, and if certain figures apply enough pressure, an election will be forced. We have weeks, maybe a month."

"Then we must attempt to find them!" Minerva exclaimed.

"We will do so," Moody responded. "And that will be one of our tasks, but the Portkeys could have dropped them right into You-Know-Who's lap, or into the sea or trapped them underground..." he waved his arm. "We must look, but I don't hold out much hope for them."

The room was silent.

"Minerva, I have a question for you before we continue," Moody continued. "What do you know about Harry Potter?"

Minerva sighed. "Virtually nothing. He was Albus' secret."

Moody growled. "Dammit, Albus... Does anyone have any way to contact him? We need him on our side..."

"Alastor," Bill added. "During the rescue mission to the Graveyard, once we found him, Albus never let Harry out of his sight," he paused. "I think my younger brothers and sister have met with him on occasion. I think Albus asked them to visit him in hospital."

Moody spun to look at Arthur, fixing him with a stare. "What do you know about this?" he demanded.

"As much as you, Alastor," Arthur replied coolly. "Albus asked and we allowed Fred, George, Ron and Ginny to go with him."

"Very well..." Moody sighed. "If anyone has any contact with Harry Potter, he _must_ be brought into the Order. He could be a valuable rallying point for us to gain support."

"Potter is not a tool, Alastor!" Minerva replied. "He is just a boy!"

"Albus was training him, Minerva!" Moody replied hotly. "We must bring him into the fold!"

The room sat in uncomfortable silence.

"Now, we come to the main matter," Moody sighed and continued in a quieter tone. "Albus' murder came as a shock to us all, and without him, I think I can speak for all of us when I say we all feel somewhat adrift," Alastor voice became suddenly stronger. "Which is why we must ensure that his killer is brought to justice."

Arthur was now feeling deeply uncomfortable.

"Arthur," Alastor began. "I must ask, have you seen anything of Winters?"

"Alastor," Arthur replied, trying his best to keep his voice even. "There has not even been a trial, so how can we be sure..."

"I was there..." Severus drawled suddenly, speaking for the first time. "I saw."

"Severus..." Minerva interrupted. "Would you tell us exactly what you saw? Some of us, I dare say, have not heard it first hand."

"It is simple enough," Severus replied. "I was coming up from the dungeons for a patrol of the school and I heard a disturbance near the doors of Entrance Hall. I went to investigate and arrived in time to see Winters stab Albus with a Basilisk fang."

"A Basilisk fang!" Hestia Jones exclaimed.

"Yes, Winters is the only one alive, other than the Dark Lord himself, that has access to the Chamber of Secrets. That is where the only supply of such fangs is known to be."

"That's because he killed the Basilisk to save my daughter!" Arthur exclaimed angrily.

"Arthur!" Moody reprimanded him and Arthur bit his tongue to stop a rude reply.

"What about Umbridge?" Minerva asked. "She claimed to be a witness."

Severus Snape was silent for a second before continuing. "Dolores, only appeared after I had disturbed Winters. We gave chase, he stunned Dolores and injured me, knocking me out. I was out for some time before I came around and revived Dolores. By then Winters was gone."

"So she did not witness it?" Minerva added. "Despite her claims...you are the only witness."

"The evidence is plain," Snape replied evenly.

"I dare say Adam would dispute that," Minerva added.

"You are biased towards that boy," Snape spat in response.

"Maybe I am, Severus," Minerva replied with venom in her voice. "But I would like to see him convicted with more than just the word of one person."

Moody grunted gruffly. "The body was examined, and the cause of Death was determined to be a combination of a Dark Curse and Basilisk venom. We also checked the fang, in the previous twenty four hours it only touched Winters and Albus' skin."

"I will not accept this!" Minerva stated blankly. "Not until he is convicted in a fair trial, by a fair court, with evidence beyond any doubt."

"We need only wait for him to be caught then," Snape said silkily.

"Oh, please," Minerva spat. "He would not get a fair trial out of this Ministry! And by the looks of it, none of you are prepared to give him a fair trial!"

"I testified under Veritaserum to the Aurors at the school," Snape snapped.

"Mind..." Arthur ventured quietly. "I doubt overcoming Veritaserum would provide much of a challenge for a skilled potions master such as yourself..."

"You would do well to watch what you accuse me of, Weasley!" Snape spat in return, causing Arthur to tense and grip his wand in his pocket.

"Enough!" Moody roared. "We must move on from this. Arthur," Moody continued, turning to him. "I need to ask you to keep an especially close eye on your children; he may attempt to contact them, your daughter especially. If you have any suspicions you will need to bring them in for questioning."

Arthur paused, feeling his anger getting the best of him for the first time in many years. He had always prided himself on always giving a measured considered response to problems. Here a line had been crossed.

"No." he responded flatly.

First they accused his son, in everything other than blood, of murder and now they wanted him to spy on his other children.

"What?" Moody exclaimed. "Arthur, the Order of the Phoenix has always operated on goodwill, but as the leader of the Order, I must insist..."

"Alastor," Arthur replied through gritted teeth. "For personal reasons, I feel I can no longer participate here."

Arthur quietly stood from his seat.

"Dad!" He heard Bill exclaim in a shocked tone, also jumping to his feet. "You can't!"

Arthur ignored his oldest son.

"Goodbye to you all," he said and walked towards the door.

"Arthur, wait!" Minerva's voice called from behind him, she too had gotten to her feet. "I think..." she hesitated. "I think I will join you. I find I no longer enjoy the company here."

Together they left Moody's house and, once outside, they both heaved a sigh of relief as they looked back at the building.

"Thank you, Minerva," Arthur began. At least there was someone else prepared to stick up for Adam.

"No," Minerva replied with a smile. "Thank _you,_ Arthur, for making me realise what I had to do."

"He didn't do it," Arthur stated.

Minerva nodded. "Too much is off, evidence is too conveniently placed. There is too much that doesn't make sense and if I had to choose who I would trust, I would pick Adam over Severus any day."

Arthur nodded.

"And Adam is clever, Arthur," Minerva continued. "He is a very clever boy, if he had really wanted to kill Albus he ..." She shook her head. "It doesn't even bear thinking about."

"When the Order finally realises..." Arthur began.

"Then we will return."

"What about the school?" Arthur asked. "Now that Albus is gone?"

"The Ministry must appoint a new Headmaster, until they do I am Headmistress, and I will continue under that assumption until I am told otherwise," Minerva answered and then chuckled. "There is one good thing with the Ministry in disarray. Dolores Umbridge has been recalled to London," she paused. "I am using my brief tenure in charge to try to undo some of the damage she did and I hope to be able to re-hire Hagrid, at least as gamekeeper."

Arthur nodded. "I just hope Adam is safe."

"Me too," Minerva responded. "Arthur... I..." she lowered her voice. "If, hypothetically speaking, your daughter was to have contact with Adam, would she, hypothetically, be able to mention that we are supporting him?"

Arthur smiled, once again feeling boosted by Minerva's support. "I think so, hypothetically speaking, of course."


	2. Chapter 1

**Ron  
June 23rd 1997**

Ron sat in the living room with his mother, anxiously waiting for his father to return from the Order meeting. Ginny was upstairs sulking, as usual, but, to be fair, Ron could understand where she was coming from. He knew Ginny was devastated that Adam had been accused of murder.

Ron knew with certainty that Adam hadn't killed Professor Dumbledore. He'd accused and generally been an awful person to Adam when he had started at Hogwarts, due to, what had seemed to him at the time, compelling evidence. He had been wrong. Very wrong. Ron had been badly shaken when he found out about Adam's childhood. The world had never seemed to give him a break until he had come to Hogwarts and once there he had been cast out and ostracised, even by his fellow Gryffindors. The summer after that school year, Ron had come to his senses and had promised himself not to doubt his mate ever again. He wasn't going to break that promise now.

A soft pop from outside disturbed Ron and he dashed to the window and peered outside. Dad was outside in the garden pacing up and down near the door.

"Leave him, dear," Mum said gently, coming up behind him. "He always paces when he's stressed, he just needs a few minutes."

Ron stood by the window and watched his dad for a couple of minutes.

"Is Dad back yet?" Ginny asked, suddenly appearing from the doorway.

"Yeah," Ron replied. "He's pacing outside."

Ginny mumbled something in reply, collapsed onto the sofa and proceeded to stare out of the window.

"Hello, Weasleys," Dad's voice sounded tiredly from the kitchen a few minutes later.

"Dad!" Ginny exclaimed, leaping up off the sofa and dashing into the kitchen. "What happened?"

Ron followed her and saw his dad sitting down at the kitchen table. He looked tired, very tired.

"The Order are convinced that Adam is guilty..." he said in a quiet voice.

"What?" Ron, Ginny, and his mother exclaimed simultaneously.

Dad simply held up his hand to forestall any objections.

"So when they couldn't, or wouldn't, be convinced..." he hesitated. "Minerva and I left the Order."

"Oh, Arthur," Mum exclaimed sympathetically.

"It was the right decision," Dad continued. "I just couldn't sit around the table with those people. Especially not Snape."

"Snape!" Ron exclaimed.

"In the end it comes down to Snape's word against Adam's, and the Order have accepted his version of events without question. Adam's been set up, but by who I don't know."

"Thanks, Dad!" Ginny gushed, suddenly darting forward to hug him. "Thanks for believing in him."

"I did learn some other useful information before I left, though," Dad began. "Fudge, Madam Bones and Scrimgeour have all disappeared..."

"Oh, no!" Mum exclaimed.

"That's Voldemort's doing!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly. "Unless they're going to try to blame that on Adam, too."

Ron flinched, she had said _his_ name.

"Ginny!" Mum shrieked. "When did you start saying _his_ name?"

Ginny shuffled her feet and mumbled something about Harry Potter.

"I'm quite certain it is You-Know-Who's doing," Dad continued. "The Ministry of course won't admit what has happened to them."

"Does that mean we'll have a new Minister?" Ron asked.

"Yes, if and when the Wizengamot accept that Fudge is dead. Fudge has been on the rocks for some time, and with Dumbledore's death it was expected he would resign. Unfortunately, the two most likely replacements were the two people that disappeared with him."

"So who will be elected?" Mum asked.

"Well, assuming we even have a fair election what with the amount of influence You-Know-Who has over people at the Ministry," Dad shrugged. "I couldn't even begin to guess as to..." He trailed off as the Floo activated and Bill and his girlfriend Fleur stepped through.

"Bill!" Mum exclaimed, hugging him, "and Fleur!" she said, slightly more distantly. Ron knew that mum wasn't too keen on Fleur.

"Hi," Bill responded, looking around the kitchen. "Hi, Dad," he added. "You caused quite a stir tonight."

Dad chuckled dryly. "Good, they need waking up."

"Dad, I really don't think you should have left," Bill added. "Are you certain that he is..."

"William," Dad said in a warning tone.

Ron tensed slightly, knowing that Ginny would be furious at what his brother had just said. Bill didn't know Adam that well, so it was understandable, wasn't it, that he maybe wasn't as convinced as the rest of them that he was innocent.

"Adam is innocent, Bill!" Ginny suddenly snapped in a loud voice.

"Ginny!" Bill exclaimed in surprise, as if he hadn't realised she was there. "The evidence is overwhelmingly against him," he continued weakly.

She stormed over to Bill and squared off against him, which looked quite comical considering Ginny only came up to Bill's chest height.

"I don't care what you think!" Ginny screeched, forcing him to take a step backwards. "I know he's innocent!"

She then spun around and thundered out of the kitchen, up the stairs and Ron heard her door slamming.

"William," Dad said sharply. "You should have more trust in your sister's choice of friends."

"Arthur..." Mum added hesitantly.

Dad sighed. "You're right, Molly. We can't argue between ourselves. Bill you need to trust my decision on this. When the Order accept that a sixteen year old boy couldn't kill the greatest wizard of our age then I will return."

Bill seemed to relax and sat down at the table with Fleur on his lap.

"The Order isn't actually the reason I came tonight, I... er we... have an announcement to make..." Bill began hesitantly. "We, that is, Fleur and I have decided to get engaged!"

There was silence for a split second before Mum leapt out of her seat exclaiming, "Oh! Oh! Congratulations!" as she charged forward and hugged Bill and Fleur.

Dad rose to his feet, beaming widely, and approached Bill shaking his hand firmly. "Congratulations, son!" he exclaimed and then he hugged Fleur. "Welcome to the family, Fleur!"

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley," Fleur replied in accented English. "I do love your son very much."

"Nice one, Bill," Ron said, moving forward and shaking his brother's hand.

"Oh! Fleur, Bill," Mum was suddenly talking again, bombarding the couple with questions. "We must discuss the wedding! Have you thought of a date? Where were you planning on having it? Have you picked an official?"

Ron shuffled his feet awkwardly, not particularly wanting to hear about his brother's love life, or get involved in wedding planning.

"I'll...er... just go and check on Ginny," he said awkwardly, before slipping out of the room.

**June 30th 1997**

A week had passed since his father had left the Order and the atmosphere at The Burrow had been strained. Mum had become incredibly anxious and had refused to allow Ginny or Ron out of her sight, even to go the orchard to practice Quidditch. Dad had been at work for long hours each day and Ginny had been even more irritable than normal. The house felt decidedly empty without Adam.

"Morning, dear," Mum said brightly as he staggered blearily into the kitchen. "I'll get you some breakfast in a minute. The post and paper are already here."

Ron sat down and shuffled through the pile of post that had been placed on the table. There were several items for Dad, one for Mum and a large parcel wrapped in brown paper for Ginny. _Who would be sending her things?_ Ron wondered. The next item in the pile was the Daily Prophet, Ron glanced at the headline.

**Potter Spotted in Diagon Alley.**  
**  
Harry Potter was spotted just outside the Owl Post Office in Diagon Alley yesterday. This is the first time the "Boy-Who-Lived" has been seen since the funeral of Professor Albus Dumbledore. Very little is known about Potter since he returned from the dead last year. It was commonly believed that he had spent much of his childhood under the guardianship of Albus Dumbledore. This raises the question as to what this young man, who is not yet of age, has been doing since his guardian's death.**

"Morning, Ron," Ginny said, as she came into the kitchen, disturbing him from his reading.

"Morning," Ron said in response. "Harry's in the paper, and there's a parcel for you."

"Harry's in the paper?" Ginny chirped excitedly. "Let me see!"

She dashed over, grabbed the paper, and stood there reading through the article.

"It doesn't tell you much," she said, tossing the paper down on the table, sounding disappointed.

"Oh, you saw the article in the paper, then?" Mum said from by the stove.

"Yeah," Ron replied with a shrug.

"Your father asked me to ask you," Mum began evasively. "Have you had any contact with Harry Potter?"

"Err..." Ron began.

"No, Mum," Ginny snapped. "We have not seen Harry Potter."

"Alright, dear," Mum said looking slightly hurt. "I was only asking."

"Sorry, Mum," Ginny replied apologetically. "I'm just on edge."

"It's alright, dear," Mum said tentatively.

Ginny, meanwhile, had turned her attention to her parcel. Ron watched as she ripped it open and peered inside the torn paper. Then, suddenly, her expression broke out into a wide grin.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"Oh... " Ginny paused, wrapping the parcel back up. "It's a present from Luna... been waiting for it for ages."

"Oh," Ron responded, as Ginny whipped the parcel off the table and scurried up the stairs with it. She returned to the table a few minutes later and took her place across from Ron. The two sat in silence for a few seconds as Mum bustled at the cooker.

"Right, you two," Mum announced, turning around with plates of eggs and sausages in her hands. "We have lots of jobs to do around the house today! So we'll get started right after breakfast."

Ron and Ginny both groaned. _At least that is one thing we agree on_, Ron thought with a silent chuckle.

**July 7th 1997**

By the second week of the holidays, things, in Ron's opinion, had improved. Ginny seemed to have brightened up in the last week and seemed to be more or less back to her old self. She still spent large amounts of time on her own, but she was now socialising with the rest of the family again. Mum had also stopped following the two of them wherever they went and they had at last been allowed to head out to the orchard to play a bit of Quidditch.

Not that it was much fun with just the two of them.

Currently, Ron was sitting in the living room, reading the Quidditch section of today's Daily Prophet. He was actually quite hopeful for the upcoming season; with the transfers they had made, he thought the Cannons actually had a chance this year.

"Hello, Weasleys!" Ron heard dad's voice coming from the kitchen.

Ron got up out of his chair and wandered into the kitchen.

"Hi, dad," Ron said as he pushed open the door. "You're home early."

"Yep, they sent us all home early," Dad replied. "Can you go fetch Ginny, Ron? I have some news."

"Sure," Ron replied eagerly, his dad seemed fairly positive about the news. Maybe at last they would be able to get Adam cleared.

Ron left the kitchen and sprang up the stairs to Ginny's room. He pushed open the door. She wasn't there. Puzzled, Ron walked around the room. She should be in her room, so where was she?

Looking out the window, Ron attention was attracted to his dad's shed and he saw that the door was wide open.

_Ginny must be in dad's shed!_ Ron realised with a start. _What's she doing in there?_

Ron descended the stairs quietly and slipped outside to the shed. If his parents caught Ginny out there, she would get into trouble.

Once he reached they shed, he stepped inside.

"Ginny..." he said faintly.

No answer.

"I know your in here, Ginny," Ron said, louder this time.

"Ron!" Ginny exclaimed, appearing behind him, as if from nowhere.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked.

"Nothing..." Ginny replied, sweetly. "Just looking around."

"Really?" Ron said. "You're just sneaking around out here for no reason?"

"Yes, Ron!" Ginny snapped defensively. "I'm sneaking around out here for no reason."

"Okay," Ron said, flapping his arms in frustration. "Never mind."

"So..." Ginny replied, putting her hands on her hips and now smirking slightly. "What brings you out here?"

"Oh, Dad wants to talk to all of us," Ron answered.

"Okay," Ginny replied with a smile. "Let's head inside."

They left the shed and began walking back to the house.

"Ginny, what will you do if Adam's not back before school starts again?" Ron blurted suddenly, as they walked up to the kitchen door.

Ginny froze and turned to face him, with a strange expression on her face.

"Ron..." Ginny said in a strained voice. She paused, coughed and then continued. "W-W-When... when I go back to school, Adam will be back. I'm sure of it."

"Ginny..." Ron said faintly. "How can you..."

Ginny interrupted. "Let's just go inside, Ron."

The two of them stepped inside The Burrow and were immediately greeted by their mother.

"What were you doing outside?" she questioned. "I didn't know you'd left the house!"

"Sorry, Mum," Ginny replied. "It was my fault. I was just walking outside and Ron came to find me."

"I would have thought you'd have known better than to just wander off, young lady."

Ron was sure that Ginny mumbled something rude under her breath. He hoped Mum hadn't heard.

"Well, come along. Your father is in the living room," Mum continued, and Ron was thankful she didn't seem to have heard Ginny's expletive.

They trooped together into the living room, where dad was currently sitting and reading the paper.

"Hi, Dad," Ginny said, collapsing on the sofa next to him and giving him a hug.

"Hi, sweetheart," Dad responded.

Ron sat down on the other side of their dad and Mum hovered in the doorway looking anxious.

"Well," Dad said, smiling. "I have some good news. They announced that the Wizengamot are finally going to hold elections for a new Minister."

"How is that good news?" Ginny asked.

"Well," Dad continued thoughtfully. "The two candidates are Pius Thicknesse, from the Aurors, and George Chambers, Head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. George is a good bloke, and if he gets elected I should be able to get him to do a decent investigation and get Adam cleared."

Ginny gave a squeak of delight, but she soon asked with trepidation. "Will he get in though?"

"I've been asking around," Dad continued, nodding enthusiastically. "And it's looking good."

"Oh, how wonderful, Arthur!" Molly exclaimed.

Ron grinned too, but he was surprised to see that Ginny still looked worried.

**July 10th 1997**

An ear splitting wail coming from downstairs woke Ron from his sleep.

_What the hell was that?_

He shot out of bed and dashed down the staircase, nearly running into his mum and dad as he passed their bedroom on the way down from the attic. On the first floor, Ginny's door was still closed. _Could she really be sleeping through this?  
_  
"It's the perimeter alarms!" Dad exclaimed, once they reached the kitchen. "Someone that isn't part of the family has just entered the property."

Dad waved his wand and the wailing ceased.

"Are we being attacked?" Ron asked.

"I..." Dad hesitated. "I don't think so. I can see four... or maybe five people just walking down the path to the house."

"Visitors at this hour?" Mum exclaimed.

Dad could only shrug in response, as he looked out of the window. "Ron, go and..." he began and but then he seemed to visibly relax. "Never-mind," he said heaving a sigh of relief. "They're Aurors. I wonder why they are calling at this hour."

Ron and his parents waited anxiously in the kitchen for the visitors to arrive, once they reached the house, the leader stepped forward and knocked officiously on the door.

"Good evening, Mr. Weasley," the man, who had a very hard face, said. "May we come in?"

"I'm sorry," Dad replied. "I don't recognise you."

"Ah," the man said in response, holding out something to dad. "I am the new Department Head for Magical Law Enforcement. Appointed this very evening by Minister Thicknesse. Name is Yaxley."

Ron realised with disappointment that the new Minister wasn't the man who Dad had said would try to get Adam cleared. The other guy had been elected!

"Oh," Dad replied sounding slightly flustered but still not letting them into the house. "What can I do for you then, Mr. Yaxley?"

Yaxley smiled cruelly, firmly pushed dad aside, and then stepped into the kitchen. Three of the other men followed him.

"I am here to enact a warrant for the arrest of Ginevra Molly Weasley."

Mum shrieked.

Dad roared. "What!"

Ron, meanwhile, moved his hand and clasped his wand that was in his pyjama pocket.

Dad, who had seemed to collect himself slightly, demanded in a shaky voice. "On what charges?"

"Why," Yaxley smiled again. "I have the warrant right here."

He withdrew a piece of parchment and passed it to Dad.

"You're arresting her for Treason?" he exclaimed. "This is nonsense!"

"Signed by the Minister himself," Yaxley said smugly, snatching the parchment back. "You know what the sentence for Treason is, don't you, Arthur?"

"For Merlin's sake, man!" Dad shouted, terror now evident in his voice. "She is a fifteen year old girl! What can she possibly have done?"

"That is not important," Yaxley replied calmly. "She is to be arrested and taken to Azkaban to await trial."

"No!" Mum cried. "You can't! Not my baby girl!"

"We, can. And we will," Yaxley said, smiling that cruel smile again.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Dad shouted, reaching for his wand.

Ron, too, seeing his father reaching for his wand, drew his.

As the three Weasleys reached for their wands. The Aurors moved.

A split second later, Ron realised that he was the only one of the three how had actually been able to draw his wand.

Ron glanced around the room in horror. Yaxley had his wand pointed at Dad's throat, and Mum was standing with her hands by her sides, one of the Auror's wands pointing at her forehead. The remaining two Aurors had their wands pointed at Ron.

"Drop your wand, little boy," one of them mocked gruffly.

"Do it, Ron," Dad said, despair evident in their tone. "I... I... I don't think there is anything we can do for Ginny tonight."

Ron, let his wand fall from his hand and it clattered to the floor.

"Show us where she is," Yaxley demanded. "We checked on our way in: there are four people in the house, so we know she's in."

"Her room is on the first floor," Dad said with a defeated sigh.

Yaxley walked ahead of the three Weasleys as they were marched up the stairs at wand point. As they walked Ron could hear his mum snuffling, trying to hold back tears. Ron himself felt despair welling up inside him. _What had his little sister done!_

Reaching the first floor, where Ginny and Adam's rooms where, Yaxley paused. Ron winced when he saw the man looking at the scrawled sign on her door; _Ginny's Room_ _absolutely no boys allowed. (Except Adam)_.

"Ah, here we are," Yaxley said smugly.

He pushed open the door.

All of the Weasleys present heaved a sigh of relief. The room was empty and the window was open. Ginny had run.

Yaxley stomped into the room, and waved his wand around the room, presumably searching for Ginny. He went into Ginny's wardrobe and checked under the bed. Apparently now convinced she wasn't there, Yaxley charged back out of the room towards his father.

"Where is she?" Yaxley snarled at Dad. "Did you warn her?"

"How could we?" Dad replied in a measured tone. "We have been with you since you arrived."

"Men, come with me!" Yaxley snapped to the Aurors. They stomped back down the stairs and suddenly the Weasleys were alone.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Mum cried, throwing herself at Dad.

"It's alright!" Dad whispered. "She got away... she got away. She must have heard us talking downstairs."

"She'll be okay, right?" Ron asked hesitantly.

"I don't know, son," Dad said. "I just don't know." He paused. "Molly, go and sit down. Ron, come with me. We need to make sure these people actually leave our property."

Ron followed his dad downstairs and into the kitchen. The kitchen door was wide open, but there was no sign of the men anywhere.

"Have they gone?" Ron asked.

Dad moved over to the door, as if to shut it, but as soon as he approached it, Yaxley stomped back inside and pushed dad violently against the table.

"Well," he sneered. "Looks like your daughter is smarter than we gave her credit for." He pressed his wand into Dad's chest. "Know this, Weasley," he spat. "The only reason your entire family isn't in Azkaban is that we can't pin anything on the rest of you yet, but we'll be watching."

With that, Yaxley turned, spat on the floor and left the house.

Ron and his dad stood there in shocked silence for several minutes.

"Arthur?" Mum's voice from the doorway finally started them out of their shocked state. "Are they gone?"

"Yes," Dad replied tiredly. "They're gone."

"Dad," Ron asked in shaky voice. "Were they real Aurors?"

Dad snorted. "No. Well, they didn't behave like any Aurors I've ever met."

"But the warrant?" Ron asked.

"That was real," Dad replied. "Signed by the Minister and bearing an official Ministry seal."

"What does that mean, Arthur?" Mum questioned.

"I don't know," he sighed. "I think I need to call Moody. He needs to know that the new Minister has been compromised."

At this Mum gasped.

"Why are they after Ginny?" Ron questioned, angrily. "What has she done?"

"I don't know, son," Dad replied tiredly. "I just don't know."

"We have to find her!" Mum cried.

"No." Dad replied firmly.

"Why not?" Mum screeched.

"We can't, Molly, at least not openly. You heard what he said, they're looking for any excuse to throw the lot of us in jail." He sighed. "We can't do anything for her if we're locked up. At least they seem to be keeping some pretence of obeying the law."

"But what about Ginny?" Mum asked, still sounding distressed.

"If she has any sense, she'll keep running until she's well away from here," Dad said grimly. "We would never be able to find her if she didn't want to be found. Publicly we can't support her, but—"

"–we do everything we can in secret," Ron finished.

"Exactly," Dad replied.


	3. Chapter 2

**Ginny  
July 10th 1997**

Ginny's eyes snapped open, her heart pounding, as a high pitched wailing noise blared through the house. Instantly thinking they were under attack, Ginny leapt out of her bed.

As she pulled on a pair of jeans, Ginny heard the sound of footsteps pounding down the stairs past her room and down onto the ground floor. Grabbing her wand, she opened her door and crept downstairs after them.

Creeping across the living room, she heard Ron's voice from the kitchen. "Are we being attacked?" he asked.

"I..." Dad replied, his voice hesitant. "I don't think so. I can see four... or maybe five people just walking down the path to the house."

"Visitors at this hour?" Mum exclaimed.

Then there was silence.

"Ron, go and..." her dad began, then he paused. "Never mind," he said, now sounding relieved. "They're Aurors. I wonder why they are calling at this hour?"

At this, Ginny relaxed and put her wand into her pocket. She paused for a second before deciding that she didn't particularly want to sit around and socialise with visitors. So she turned around and walked back up the stairs to go back to bed.

Just as she reached her room, Ginny heard her mother scream. Quick as a flash, she whipped out her wand and bounded lightly back down the stairs and into the living room.

"You're arresting her for Treason?" She heard her dad exclaim from the kitchen, as she charged into the living room. "This is nonsense!"

Ginny froze. Were they here for her? They couldn't be... could they?

She heard another voice talking and then her dad shouted in a terrified voice. "For Merlin's sake, man! She is a fifteen year old girl! What can she possibly have done?"

The sound of her father's terrified voice shocked Ginny out of her hesitation. Pushing aside the coil of dread inside her, she instantly spun around and dashed, as quietly as possible, up the stairs to her room. She would have to use the preparations she had been making to disappear with Adam in a couple of weeks, and make a run for it now.

Now incredibly thankful she had already made the majority of preparations, Ginny entered her room, dived under her bed and grabbed the bag she had hidden there using the Invisibility Cloak. Once she had the bag, Ginny reached under her bed again and grabbed her broom.

Ginny struggled as she swung the bag onto her back. It was her dad's rucksack, and it was considerably over-sized on Ginny's much smaller body. Once it was on her back, Ginny ran to the window, opened it, and hopped onto her broom, throwing the cloak over her.

Once out of her room, Ginny sped away as fast as the broom would carry her. She knew from experience that the cloak wasn't big enough to hide her and the entire broom in flight, but right now she needed the speed. She just hoped that the still visible bristles of the broom would be largely invisible against the night sky.

Once she was far enough away from The Burrow so that she was confident she wouldn't be seen, Ginny expertly guided the broom to the ground. In her opinion, it was just too risky to continue on the broom. The Aurors would have realised by now that she was gone and they would be out searching for her.

Once her feet touched the ground, Ginny hopped off the broom, stuffed it through the loops of the backpack next to her dad's tent and adjusted the cloak, ensuring that she was now completely invisible.

Pausing for a moment, Ginny scanned the countryside around her. Her eyes settled on The Burrow, which was now no more than a set of lights shining in the distance. Looking back at the house she felt a terrible sense of longing, but she had no choice, she had to leave. Her only option now was to meet up with Adam, but first she had to find somewhere to hide for the night. She needed a plan.

After several minutes of consideration, Ginny decided to head for the village of Ottery-St. Catchpole. From there she should be able to contact Adam and she would be able to find food and somewhere to sleep.

Ginny knew that the village would be one of the places the Aurors who were after her would look, but if she kept to the Muggle area of the village Ginny hoped she could avoid notice.

Taking one last look at her home, Ginny pushed aside her sadness, turned, and began walking across the fields towards the village.

Ginny walked for what felt like an age, until, much to her relief, she came to the road that led into the village. It was a small country road that very few Muggles ever drove down, but it had room for two cars to pass. When she saw it, Ginny allowed herself to stop and rest for a few minutes, she knew where she was now; from here she could follow the road into the village.

Ginny jogged down the road until she approached the village. Finally crossing the bridge over the River Otter, she encountered the first of the Muggle lamps that were the only visible lights in the village.

As she entered the village, Ginny quickly ran past the small lane that led to the few wizarding shops. In the past when she had visited Ottery-St. Catchpole with her family, they had always stayed the in that area, but tonight it was the one place Ginny wanted specifically to avoid.

Once past the wizarding area, Ginny padded tiredly down the Muggle high street glancing at the various shops as she quickly passed them. Only one building on the street had its lights on and, from inside, Ginny could hear music playing and raucous voices. She approached the door and peered in. Inside the building, there were groups of Muggles gathered around tables drinking.

_I know,_ Ginny thought suddenly. _This must be some sort of Muggle pub._ She shivered, looking enviously at the people warm inside.

Ginny turned and continued down the high street. Then she froze. Walking down the pavement toward her was a cloaked figure. Cloaked! Cloaks meant wizards! In a panic, Ginny turned and ran in the other direction.

"What the hell!" A man shouted as Ginny ran straight into him.

The force of the impact sent Ginny flying to floor landing on her bottom, while the man staggered backwards.

"What is it, mate?" another man said, as he too walked out of pub.

"Felt like someone tried to push me over!" the first man exclaimed. "But there's no one here."

Ginny struggled back to her feet and realised with horror that the two men's loud voiced had attracted the attention of the cloaked wizard who was now walking quickly towards them.

Panicked, Ginny pushed past the two men and sprinted down the street. She ran frantically away from the pub and careened into the first side street that she saw. Now off the main road Ginny stopped, trying desperately to stop her ragged breathing that would surely give her away.

Having finally collected herself, Ginny walked cautiously back to the turning onto the high street and peered around the corner. As she looked up and down, she could just about make out the cloaked figure standing outside the pub. He too seemed to be scanning the area but he hadn't moved in her direction. Ginny sagged against the wall in relief. The man hadn't actually seen her.

Not willing to risk going back to the high street, Ginny walked aimlessly down the road unsure where it was taking her. As she walked, she suddenly felt as if her energy was draining away. Her limbs felt heavy and she yawned involuntarily. She needed to find somewhere where she could get a bit of sleep.

Ginny knew she was going to have to sleep rough tonight. If the men who were trying to arrest her were in the village, she couldn't afford to put up the tent. It would be far too obvious. She would probably even have to sleep under the cloak. Just to be safe.

**July 11th 1997**

The cold woke Ginny early the next morning. As she cracked her eyes open she was, at first, confused by the bright light and the low temperatures of her surroundings.

Then with a jolt, Ginny remembered where she was and why she was there. She quickly sat upright and looked around. She had slept in a small pavilion on the village green, under the cloak and wrapped in a blanket. The pavilion was little more than a wooden floor with a roof but it was better than being completely in the open. Through the sides of the pavilion Ginny could see the sun was shining and the grass of the village green was covered with dew.

Ginny took off the cloak glad, for at least a short time, not to have it covering her anymore, and stretched. Once she had worked the kinks out of her muscles, Ginny returned to the bag and began repacking it.

Before she could go anywhere, she needed a plan. _Well_, Ginny thought. _That's fairly easy. First I need to get in contact with Adam to find out where he is. Then I need to get to him._

From a side pocket of the bag, Ginny pulled out the letter Adam had sent her a few days ago and re-read it.

_Ginny,_

First of all, I'm safe. Don't worry. It's a little bit awkward that I can't use magic but I'm getting by.

As promised, I'm going to try to make some arrangements to come and get you so we can start searching for the ... things. Before we meet up though, I really need you to get some things for me. Could you grab as many of my clothes as possible from my trunk, your broom and anything else you think we'll need as we will probably be roughing it.

I'll meet you on the 31st July at the end of the lane that leads to The Burrow. You'll have to sneak out to meet me, so I've put the cloak in this parcel, it should help you with that. I don't want to put your parents in the position of knowing you're helping me, plus, I don't think they'd let you go if they knew.

If for any reason you need to contact me, the best I can do is give you a Muggle phone number. It's a phone box near where I'm staying. I don't think you have a phone at The Burrow (if you have I've never seen it) so you'll have to use one in the village, I've put a few Muggle coins in with the cloak to help you with that (Muggle phones don't take Knuts). Oh, I nearly forgot the number is 01718768562._ I'll wait there at 10am every day just in case you call. Don't call at any other time._

All the best, stay safe and I'll see you soon.

Yours,  
A

Ginny folded up the letter and put it in her pocket along with the Muggle coins Adam had sent. He had sent her five very strange coins; they weren't round but had seven flat edges around the coin. They were apparently worth fifty pence each, whatever that meant.

Once Ginny had packed everything away, she started walking, once again under the cloak, back towards the high street. At just after eight o'clock the high street was much busier than it had been the previous evening.

As Ginny walked along, being especially careful not to bump into anyone, she noticed several people apparently walking to work and, much to her relief, there was no sign of any wizards.

As she walked, her stomach suddenly growled and she realised with shock that she, of course, hadn't had any breakfast this morning. She flushed with embarrassment; she hadn't gone to all the trouble of staying hidden for a rumbling stomach to get her caught.

So deciding to try and find some breakfast, she turned around and walked back towards the shops. There was only one shop open at this time and peering in through the window, Ginny saw an older woman behind a counter near the door. Not wanting to attract her attention, Ginny waited outside the door for someone to come along so she could slip in unseen.

After ten minutes, no one had come along and Ginny's stomach had had enough of waiting. So, feeling brave, she stepped out of sight, slipped off the cloak and walked into the shop.

"Good morning, dear," the woman behind the desk said cheerily.  
_  
_"Hello," Ginny replied with a smile, hoping that the woman wouldn't pay too much attention to her. She was after all a fifteen year old girl with a rather large backpack, and what looked like a large broom. _Hmm_, she thought._ Perhaps I didn't think this through._

Ginny walked around the small shop, and picked up a packet of sandwiches and a bottle of orange juice. Once she was done she returned to the woman. Her purchases came to eighty pence, so she handed over two of the coins that Adam had given her and received, what looked like another smaller version of the same coin in change.

Once she was outside the shop, Ginny immediately covered herself again with the cloak and wandered down the street munching on her sandwiches. Now that she had food, she needed to find a phone box so that she could call Adam.

She eventually found a phone box at the far end of the high street and crammed herself into it to make the phone call. After several minutes of reading the instructions printed on the phone, Ginny thought she had just about figured it out.

So, when ten o'clock finally came, Ginny picked up the phone. She nearly dropped it in surprise when it started making a buzzing noise at her, but she soon collected herself, dropped one of Adam's coins into the slot and then pressed the numbers that he had written on his letter.

Once she had finished entering the number the phone started making another strange noise.

"Hello?" a voice came from the other end.

"ADAM!" Ginny cried, making sure he could hear her.

"Ginny?"

"Adam!" Ginny said, suddenly breaking out in a sob. "They came to the house for me! They were going to arrest me! I had to run away!"

There was silence for a second.

"Okay, Ginny," Adam said after what felt like forever. "Where are you?"

"I'm in Ottery-St. Catchpole," Ginny said, having now succeeding in getting her voice under control. "But I've all the stuff we needed. So I just need to make my way to you now. Where are you?"

"I'm in London," Adam replied grimly. "Can you get to me?"

"I..." Ginny hesitated. "I can," she said emphatically. "How?"

"You'll have to get a Muggle train," Adam said, his voice showing frustration. "I can't Apparate to come and get you, the Ministry would detect me."

"I know you can't. Could I not take the Knight bus?" Ginny asked hopefully, but she was pretty she that she couldn't.

"If they're after you..." Adam began.

"I know," Ginny replied sadly. "Where can I get on a Muggle train? Will I have enough money?"

"I don't know," Adam replied. "You can probably ask one of the Muggles but I think you'll probably have to sneak on under the cloak as you won't have enough money."

"Okay," Ginny replied. "I'll do it."

"I'll stay by the phone all day in case you need me," Adam answered. "And I'll meet you at the other end in London."

"Okay..." Ginny began, now feeling less confident. Sure Adam was at the other end of the phone, but he wasn't here with her.

"We can do this," Adam stated from the other end. "You'll be fine."

Ginny couldn't help but grin at Adam's encouragement. "I can," she replied putting more confidence into her voice than she felt. "I'll speak to you soon."

"Ginny..." Adam said hesitantly. "I..." he paused. "Be safe."

"I will," Ginny responded. "See you soon."

With that, Ginny placed the phone back down, and to her surprise some more unusual coins dropped out of the machine. Ginny grabbed them and left the box.

Once outside she paused for a second, making her plans. Get to the train station, wherever that was, and then get to London. Coming to a decision Ginny walked briskly down the street back towards the shop she had visited earlier. As she approached the shop, Ginny ducked out of the sight, pulled off the cloak and walked in.

"Hello again," the woman said again, sounding just a cheery as she had earlier.

"Hi," Ginny began, trying to sound as confident as she could. "Could you help me find the nearest train station?"

"Oh my," the woman replied. "It's a fair way away. You'll have to get a bus into Exeter. The bus stop is just outside the pub."

"Oh," Ginny replied, trying to hide her disappointment. Now she had to take a Muggle bus as well! "Thanks!" she then continued, forcing a smile onto her face.

Leaving the shop, Ginny once more threw the cloak over herself and walked purposefully down the street. She eventually found what she was pretty sure was the bus stop. It was a large pole with a picture of a bus at the top. Once there, she waited around for nearly an hour until a bus, which had a big sign reading Exeter on the front, stopped and she was able to sneak on as people stepped off the bus.

The journey on the Muggle bus was surprisingly smooth, far smoother than the Knight bus. Throughout the journey Ginny stood in the aisle at the back of the bus. She didn't dare sit down just in case anyone tried to sit on top of her.

Eventually, after stopping many times, the bus finally reached its destination. Ginny narrowly avoided getting locked on the bus and had to run to get off when she realised the man who was driving the bus was also getting off.

Once off the bus, Ginny looked around, desperately searching for any clue as to where she had to go. There were crowds of Muggles walking around, and loads of Muggle buses parked everywhere. Ginny felt completely overwhelmed and she struggled to push down the despair threatened to well up inside of her.

As she tried to calm herself, Ginny suddenly realised that the majority of the Muggles all seemed to be walking in once direction. _Follow the crowds!_ She thought feeling a surge of optimism.

Ginny followed the Muggles, not really sure where she was going. After ten minutes of walking, she finally reached an area that had shops and seemed to be far busier. Muggles bustled up and down the street and Ginny had to work hard to ensure no-one ran into her while she was invisible.

After nearly half an hour of walking around the town, Ginny was no closer to finding the train station and she realised that she would have to ask someone, which meant she would need to take off the cloak.

Deciding to get it over with, Ginny ducked behind a kiosk that seemed to be selling newspapers, and whipped off the cloak. Venturing out into the street, she trotted along the street looking for someone to ask for directions. She eventually stopped an older woman who was able to direct Ginny towards the train station.

Now knowing roughly where she had to go. Ginny continued down the street in the direction she had been sent, looking for somewhere to slip out of sight so she could put the cloak back on without attracting notice. It was not until she had walked for several minutes that Ginny saw somewhere secluded. Just ahead of her was a lane that ran behind a large shop called Woolworths. _Hmm_, Ginny thought. _It must sell wool._

"Hey, you!" A voice called from behind her, as she approached the lane.

Ginny froze, and quickly looked behind her. A man was running towards her.

Not wanting to take any chances, Ginny began to run. She needed to find somewhere to hide, the lane was a dead end, and if the man knew her, then he must be a wizard and would be able to guess that she had somehow made herself invisible.

"Get back here, Weasley! You no good stinkin' Death Eater!" The man shouted as he ran after her.

As she ran, weaving between the few Muggles who where on the street, Ginny realised with dismay that the man had called her a Death Eater! She wasn't a Death Eater. It hurt to know the Ministry, or whoever was after her, were spreading lies about her. _Would everyone from school think she had joined Voldemort?_

Ginny kept on running, looking for anywhere she could use to disappear. As she dashed down the Muggle streets, she glanced over her shoulder and was surprised to find that the man now had a wand in his hand.

Ginny was still running, pushing past bewildered Muggles, when a red spell hit the ground several feet to her left. It was too far away to trouble Ginny, but sent the Muggles around her into a panic.

Several screamed, and Ginny heard a series of raised voices that were now shouting at the man who was chasing her. Despite all the commotion that he was causing, the man managed to fire two more Stunners at her, both of which were woefully inaccurate.

_This guy has rubbish aim!_ Ginny thought to herself._ If I could do magic right now I'd show him a thing or two!_ _  
_  
As she continued running, Ginny realised that the man's decision to fire spells at her had actually worked in her favour, in their panic the Muggles were slowing him down.

Ginny saw an opportunity to use this to her advantage so she could slip out of sight. In front of her was a set of stairs that led into a tunnel in the ground. If she could get far enough ahead she could slip the cloak over her and disappear.

She put on a burst of speed and practically leapt down the stairs and into tunnel. As soon as she was out of sight of the road, she whipped out the cloak and threw it over her, just in time to see the man pound down the steps and run straight past her.

Ginny leaned back against the wall of the tunnel, trying to catch her breath. She felt herself tremble slightly, that had been close. Far too close! What upset her even more was the fact that the man had accused her of being a Death Eater! Did people really think she was a Death Eater? What would her family think?

Shaking herself, and realising that what other people thought wasn't important, Ginny walked cautiously down the tunnel and up the stairs on the other side. As she emerged into daylight again, she was startled to see that the man was standing at the top of the stairs, leaning on the railing and breathing heavily.

"Damn..." he muttered. "Could've gotten a reward."

So they had put a reward out for her, too.

The man stayed there for several minutes, until the sound sirens made him visibly tense. As the sirens seemed to get closer, he turned on the spot and vanished with a pop.

Ginny heaved a sigh of relief and continued down the street. She kept walking, still following the woman's directions. Several minutes later, she turned a corner and nearly sobbed with joy. In front of her was a large sign reading: _Exeter Central Railway Station._

Now all she needed to do was slip onto a train to London and let Adam know she was on her way.

**Adam  
July 11th 1997**

Adam dashed towards platform fifteen of London Paddington station. If he had read the timetable correctly then Ginny should be on the train that was about to pull in at the platform, and he wanted to be there to meet her.

By the time Adam arrived at the platform, the train had already arrived and a large number of Muggles were walking down the platform towards the exits and the underground trains. Adam walked up and down the platform, hoping desperately to spot Ginny amongst the crowd, but there was no sign of her.

Suddenly, Adam was nearly bowled over by an invisible object slamming into him. Adam instinctively leapt back but froze when he felt a pair of arms snake around him.

"Ginny?" he asked in confusion. "Is that you?"

"Adam!" Ginny's voice exclaimed from nowhere.

Adam fumbled for the edge of the cloak and lifted it up so he could look into her eyes.

"Glad you made it," he blurted, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer. "I've missed you."

"Me, too," Ginny exclaimed. "I nearly was caught by this man. He was saying that I'm a Death Eater."

"What happened?" Adam asked, suddenly feeling very protective of her.

"He chased me. He tried to Stun me, even with all the Muggles around and he kept calling me a Death Eater. I think they've been spreading lies about me."

"Okay," Adam replied, hugging her even tighter. "The main thing is that we did it. You're here!"

Ginny beamed up at him.

"Now follow me, and I'll lead you back to where I'm staying," Adam continued.

"Can't you get under the cloak?" Ginny asked in a worried tone.

"It won't fit over both of us and your bag. Remember it barely fit both of us last year at Hogwarts?" Adam replied. "Anyway, I was fine getting here, so I'll be fine getting back."

"Okay," Ginny replied hesitantly. "Let's go."

**Ginny  
July 11th 1997**

"Adam..." Ginny asked hesitantly as they walked down a narrow path between some of rather old looking buildings. "Where are we?"

Adam turned and grinned at her.

"This was where Professor McGonagall found me back before my first year," he laughed. "Except, now I have some money so I've bought Muggle camping stuff. It's a lot more comfortable and it'll be even better with the tent."

As they walked towards one of the old-looking buildings, Ginny felt a new sense of awe. This was one of the places where Adam had lived on the streets.

Ginny followed as Adam pushed open one of the doors on a building. He led her across an empty, draughty room and then into a second much smaller room.

Ginny gazed around the room, taking in her new surroundings. There was what appeared to be a tent in one corner, a few bags of clothes and food, and a strange contraption that was attached to a large bottle.

"What is that?" Ginny asked, immediately pointing to the strange thing.

"It's a stove," Adam replied, with a smile. "I use it to cook food and keep warm."

"Oh," Ginny replied, looking around hesitantly. Where Adam was living didn't look very comfortable at all. The only time she had ever slept anywhere other than Hogwarts, Grimmauld Place, or The Burrow was at the Quidditch World Cup. She suddenly felt a wave of guilt at what she had just thought. Adam had been forced to live in much worse conditions in the past.

"It'll be much nicer with the tent up. It has a kitchen and bedrooms!" Adam continued, sounding upbeat.

"Okay," Ginny said nodding back at him. "Let's get working!"

Ginny dropped her backpack down the floor and she began unpacking the magical tent while Adam took down his Muggle tent and began clearing up his things.

She picked up two of the tent poles and stared at them for a second, suddenly realising she had no idea how the thing went together. She knew a spell that would put it up, but they couldn't use magic right now. Suddenly, a pair of arms snaked around her waist and she relaxed as Adam leaned his head over her shoulder.

"I really did miss you, y'know," he said softly.

Ginny grinned up at him. "I missed you too, but we're together now."

Adam pulled her closer and chuckled. "I think we'll need to work together on that tent."


	4. Chapter 3

**Adam  
July 12th 1997**

The next morning, Adam was already up and cooking breakfast by the time Ginny emerged from the area of the tent that had become her bedroom. After not getting much sleep the previous night and a long day of travelling, Ginny had gone to sleep early and woken up late. Adam himself had only been to sleep for a few hours, he wasn't confident yet that their hiding place was safe.

"Good morning," Adam said brightly as he cooked some bacon. "Did you sleep well?"

Ginny, who was wearing her dressing gown, came over to him and kissed him. "Mmm," she murmured. "Where'd you get bacon?"

"I've only been to Diagon Alley once," Adam replied. "When I sent you the cloak, but I also took the chance to get a load of Muggle money from Gringotts. I go shopping in town."

"Oh," Ginny replied, licking her lips. "It smells brilliant... but, how did you get into your vault? The key was with me."

"Being Harry Potter does have some advantages," Adam replied grimly. Then, he grinned at her, served the bacon and gestured to the sofa in the tent's living area. "Take a seat, my lady."

Ginny giggled, sat down on the sofa and, once the bacon sandwiches were made, Adam went over and joined her.

"So..." Ginny began, after taking a large bite of the sandwich. "Now I'm here safe and sound, what's the plan?"

"Well..." Adam hesitated, putting his arm around her. "We've got another four Horcruxes to find."

"You destroyed the ring the night Snape killed Dumbledore?"

Adam nodded.

"So," Ginny continued. "The locket, Hufflepuff's cup, something of Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's, and the snake."

"That's about it," Adam answered.

"Do we have any leads?" Ginny asked. "Any idea where one may be?"

"Well," Adam responded. "The night Dumbledore died, he mentioned a cave. We need to go and check that out. He was also pretty convinced that Tom was using places from his past, so we can search some of them, too."

"What sort of places?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I've been thinking about that," Adam continued. "Wait a second!"

Adam put down his plate, dashed into what he had turned into his bedroom, and rummaged in his bag. Eventually finding a piece of parchment, he returned to Ginny and handed it to her.

"This is my idea, I thought about tracing out what I knew about his life."

Ginny pushed her bacon sandwich to one side and started reading the parchment.

"So, erm..." she mused. "The Orphanage, the cave, Hogwarts, the Gaunt house, the Riddle House, Borgin and Burkes, and then..." Ginny hesitated. "Oh... Adam... your house?"

"Yeah," he replied. "But there's a big gap between him leaving Borgin and Burkes and when he killed my parents."

"That was when he stopped being Tom Riddle," Ginny mused.

Adam nodded.

"So we can check all those places out then?" Ginny asked. "Well, apart from the Gaunt house, you've got the one that was there."

"Well, once we can do magic we can..." Adam began.

"Adam..." Ginny began hesitantly. "I'm not seventeen, I'm not even sixteen!"

Adam grinned at her. "I've got a plan for that, we just need to go and see Ollivander, but I don't think it'll be a problem."

"Really?" Ginny asked, sounding puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"When I went to see Ollivander he told me how the Trace works," Adam replied. "You see every wand has a complex charm on it, so that when the wand chooses a wizard or witch the Trace passes onto them until they are seventeen. That's the way they put the trace on children," Adam chucked. "Can you imagine wizards turning up to Muggle hospitals and putting traces on baby Muggle-borns?"

Ginny giggled at that, then she suddenly exclaimed. "Oh! So I don't have the trace on me because I'm using my grandmother's wand and it didn't choose me!"

"Exactly!" Adam said excitedly. "The trace is on me, however, because my wand chose me."

Ginny nodded in understanding. "That people can escape getting the Trace on them so easily seems like a big flaw in tracking underage magic."

"Not really," Adam replied. "I asked Ollivander about that. The Trace detects any magic done by the person that it is on and in their vicinity. They ignore it at Hogwarts and in wizarding houses as there is no way to tell the children's magic from the parents'."

"And only Pureblood families would ever dream of passing wands down through the generations, and they don't monitor them anyway!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Yes!" Adam replied. "I want to go to Ollivander's anyway, he said he'd check if the charm is on you and we really should get you a new wand while we're at it."

"But then..." Ginny replied, now sounding puzzled. "I'd have the Trace on me."

"Ollivander always has some wands without the Trace on them. Apparently, once he's made several, he gets a wizard from the Ministry to come and cast the charm on them. Ollivander said he'll keep as many wands as he can for you to try. If none of them choose you then you can always use your current one."

"We don't need to worry about a new wand!" Ginny exclaimed. "My old one has always been fine. We shouldn't waste time!"

"Ginny, I want him to check you for the charm. If you do have it on you I'd rather find out in his shop than when Death Eaters turn up here."

"Okay," Ginny replied. "Shall we go tomorrow?"

"Ginny, I think we should wait a few days, until the search for you has died down a bit. It'll be much safer."

"We can both go under the cloak!" Ginny shot back. "You know we both just about fit, it'll be cosy," she winked at him. "But I won't mind."

Adam sighed. "I'm not sure..." he ventured. He didn't like arguing with Ginny, but he hadn't planned to go to Diagon Alley so soon, even with the cloak.

**July 14th 1997**

Unsurprisingly, Ginny won the argument. Although Adam did manage to persuade her to wait until today to visit Diagon Alley, he thought it would be much quieter on a Monday.

They both travelled through Muggle London without using the cloak. It was just so much quicker and Adam was doubtful any Wizards actually used the London Underground.

Once they were approaching the Leaky Cauldron, they both slipped under the cloak, which still-just about-fit over the two of them, although Adam did have to crouch slightly so their feet could not be seen. They were forced to hang around outside the Leaky Cauldron for nearly fifteen minutes until a wizard entered the pub, allowing Adam and Ginny to slip in through the door. They made their way carefully through the pub and were able to nip straight through the wall on the other side into Diagon Alley.

Adam glanced around hesitantly, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign that they had been spotted. He could feel Ginny's head turning left and right as she too looked around the alley.

"Adam!" she exclaimed suddenly, somehow managing to still keep her voice quiet. "Our pictures!"

Moving her hand up near his face, Ginny directed him in the direction she wanted. Stuck to the window of one of the shops was what appeared to be an enlarged page from the daily Prophet, featuring both of their pictures. Well, Adam and Ginny, not Harry.

Ginny guided him over towards the shop and, as they approached, Adam squinted as he tried to read the writing below the photos.

**Winters & Weasley.**

**The Ministry of Magic has confirmed in a release to the Daily Prophet that Adam Winters and Ginevra Weasley are both wanted for the Murder of Albus Dumbledore. It has also been discovered that Winters and Weasley are working with former followers of You-Know-Who, commonly known as Death Eaters, such as Sirius Black and Bellatrix Lestrange.**

New Minister of Magic Pius Thicknesse said in a statement to this paper:

"The actions of these two former Hogwarts students show that anyone can turn against the lawful government of our nation. Both are to be considered dangerous and should not be approached. Any sightings should be reported directly to the Ministry of Magic."

As they read through the grim passage, Adam felt Ginny tremble against him.

"What will my parents think?" she asked in a small voice. "I'm not a Death Eater."

"They'll know you're not a Death Eater, Ginny," Adam said trying to reassure her.

"Yes," Ginny whispered, her voice sounding stronger now. "You're right. Let's carry on."

With that, the two of them continued cautiously down the street towards Ollivander's.

Once they reached the wand shop, they paused outside before slipping in as a man left. As he stepped into the shop Adam was very relieved to see that it was empty. He guided Ginny over to the counter, before pressing the bell on the countertop.

After what seemed like an eternity, Mr Ollivander shuffled into view. He stared around the shop and Adam coughed attempting to grab his attention.

As he heard the sound of the cough Ollivander seemed to tense. He grabbed his wand and suddenly the curtains drew over the windows of the shop and the door locked with a click.

"C-Come out," Mr Ollivander said hesitantly.

Adam pulled the cloak off.

"Miss Weasley," Mr Ollivander added in a thick voice. "You never came to see me. Am I to assume that those wanted signs for you are a fabrication of our Ministry?"

"Yes!" Ginny replied strongly. "You-Know-Who wants me for some reason and he's using the Ministry to get me."

"Very well," Mr Ollivander said, now speaking faster. "Let's get this over with, then you can be out of my shop. Hold out your wand arms, both of you." He then drew strange looking device from behind his counter and held it over both of their hands. "Very good," he replied grimly. "Mr. Potter you have the Trace on you, but Miss Weasley does not. That makes things far easier."

"Thank you, Mr. Ollivander," Adam replied. "It does."

"Now you also asked me to try to find a new wand for Miss Weasley," he paused. "Normally I ensure that the wand picks the wizard, but in this case we must limit ourselves to my creations on which the Trace has not yet been applied."

Adam nodded, and ushered Ginny forward to the counter. As he watched Ginny being measured for a wand, his mind wandered back to when he had been given his wand on his first trip to Diagon Alley with Professor McGonagall.

Adam had searched desperately for a way to allow Ginny to perform magic once she met up with him. He had initially thought that he could duplicate the spell that Wormtail cast on him as a baby, but he hadn't been able to find any reference to a spell with those effects in the entire Hogwarts library, so Adam had realised that he would have to get help.

He had taken a chance and approached Ollivander. Adam had been very apprehensive when he approached the wandmaker just over two weeks ago, but, as it turned out, he needn't have worried. When the man recognised him as Harry Potter, and he explained that Dumbledore had left him a mission, Mr Ollivander had been only too happy to help.

When Mr Ollivander had told Adam that, in all likelihood, Ginny did not have the Trace on her, it had been a huge relief. Mr Ollivander had mentioned that there were other ways to get around the Trace, but not having to worry about it would save them a massive amount of time and effort.

A gasp of excitement from Ginny disturbed Adam from his musings.

"Wow!" She exclaimed. "My old wand never felt like this!"

"Hazel with a Dragon Heartstring..." Mr Ollivander murmured. "A near perfect match, this wand chose you, Miss Weasley."

Adam watched as Ginny beamed as she examined her wand.

"Do..." Mr Ollivander began, slightly hesitantly. "Do you want me to keep your old wand and hide it safely amongst my stock?"

Adam looked over at Ginny and she nodded.

"Yes, please," Adam replied and then he rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a handful of galleons. "Here is the money for the wand... and for your help," he paused. "Thank you."

Mr Ollivander merely nodded at them.

"So I can do magic now?" Ginny questioned, still gazing at her new wand.

"That wand is free of the Trace as are you, Miss Weasley. However, it is still present on young Mr. Wi...Potter. As I cannot remove the charm once it has been applied it will remain in effect until Mr. Potter comes of age. If you perform a spell near it..."

A bang from the window stopped Mr Ollivander and he visibly paled. Expecting an attack Adam dashed to the door and peered out, but he couldn't see anyone in the immediate vicinity of the shop. There didn't seem to be anything that could have caused the bang.

"Go!" Mr Ollivander exclaimed. "Go before they catch you."

Adam paused. "Okay, thank you so much..."

"Just go!" Mr Ollivander repeated and he dashed over to the door, opened it and stepped outside, giving them a chance to slip out of the door unnoticed.

Throwing the cloak over themselves, Adam and Ginny stepped back out into Diagon Alley.

As they walked back down the alley, Ginny suddenly froze, causing Adam to bump into her. He scanned their surroundings, trying to determine what had caused her sudden halt.

Suddenly Adam realised what had caused her to stop, and he reached out and squeezed her hand. She was staring directly at Fred and George's shop.

"You know we can't," Adam said in a whisper. "There'll be too many people in there."

"I know," Ginny whispered back. "I just wish I could let Mum and Dad know I'm okay."  
**  
Ginny  
July 21st 1997**

The sound of Adam opening the flap to her room in the tent woke Ginny far earlier than she would have liked.

"Morning," he said softly. "Breakfast is ready."

Ginny sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes.

"I'll be out in a minute," she replied blearily.

As she got up and started dressing Ginny thought back over what they had achieved over the past week.

Nothing, absolutely nothing.

Adam was determined to wait until he was of age before they did anything, and Ginny was now getting thoroughly impatient. She wanted to go and at least let her family know that she was safe. More importantly, she wanted to make a start on hunting for the Horcruxes. She agreed they shouldn't attempt anything dangerous until they could both do magic, but did it really mean they couldn't do anything?

Once dressed, Ginny emerged into the living area and sat down at the table for breakfast with Adam.

Over the last week, they had come to an unspoken agreement. As usual, Adam would nearly always wake up early and make breakfast. Later on, Ginny would normally attempt to cook some sort of dinner. Neither of them were particularly accomplished chefs, so they struggled with anything fancy, but they survived.

As they munched on their breakfast in an easy silence, Ginny thought about how she was going to broach the subject of actually doing something other than sitting around in the tent. Not that they weren't able to amuse themselves sitting around in the tent together... but they weren't actually achieving anything.

"Adam," Ginny began hesitantly. "Can we go to Diagon Alley again today?"

"Ginny," Adam began hesitantly.

"I really want to go to the shop... just to let Mum and Dad know I'm okay. I'm sure I can do the disguise spells that you use... you've told me all about them."

Adam sighed.

"Please, Adam," Ginny pleaded. "I'll just nip off under the cloak, so the Trace won't pick the spells up and I'll change my hair and cover up my freckles... Please?"

Adam sighed again and looked over at her, his expression conflicted.

"Okay," he said at length. "If you want to, let's do it."

Ginny shot out of her seat and hugged him, nearly knocking him to the floor.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, pressing a kiss onto his lips.

With the decision now made, Ginny rushed through eating and then cleaning up after breakfast.

"Okay," Ginny said, as Adam passed her the cloak. "I'll go all the way over to the grass where we saw those kids playing..." she paused trying to remember what the name of the Muggle sport was.

"Football," Adam supplied with a grin.

"Yes, that's it!" Ginny exclaimed. "I'll head over there and then come back?"

"Okay," Adam responded with a sigh. "But, Ginny, if you can't disguise yourself... we can't go," he finished sternly.

Ginny was about to respond when she realised that he was right. If she couldn't disguise herself, then it was just too dangerous.

With that, Ginny pulled the cloak over her and set off towards the football pitch. She didn't know exactly how far the Trace could detect magic but the pitch was about five minutes' walk away. _There's no way it can pick me up that far away!  
_  
Once she reached the pitch, Ginny found that there were already a group of boys kicking the ball around.

_That sport seems so boring compared to Quidditch!_ Ginny thought as she crossed the grass and sat down with her back against a tree.

Once she was settled, Ginny pulled out her new wand and pointed it at her face. Then, concentrating as hard as she could, she attempted to envision her hair changing colour, and her freckles vanishing. There's no incantation, intent is everything Adam had told her.

Nothing happened.

For ten minutes Ginny sat there trying the spell, but still nothing happened. Finally, with a cry of impatience, Ginny chucked her wand on the ground and sat there in a huff.

_Come on, Ginny!_ She scolded herself. _Get a grip!  
_ _  
_ So, she picked her wand back up._ I need to do this! I need to make sure Mum and Dad know I'm alright. I want to see my family!  
_ _  
_ She tried it again, conjuring in her mind the image of her hair changing colour and her freckles fading, but this time she felt something. She felt a prickling sensation covering her entire face, and then a feeling that was somewhat similar to someone pouring a thick shampoo over her hair.

In excitement, Ginny grabbed at a piece of her hair and saw that it was now blonde.

"Yes!" she exclaimed in excitement. _I've done it!  
_ _  
_ Ginny leapt up from her position against the tree, and practically sprinted back to the tent. Bursting in through the flap, she pulled off the cloak and cried. "Adam! I did it! I did it!"

Adam looked up from where he was sitting on one of the chairs and grinned widely. "I still prefer red," he said with a wink, then his face took on a more serious expression. "Don't mess around with your eyes, though. I got the hair one pretty easily when I was practising with Dumbledore, but the eye one is tricky. I got it wrong once and ended up getting stuck with one green and one grey eye."

Ginny darted across the room and sat down on Adam's lap, hugging him. "Thanks for doing this," she said. "I know it's a risk but..."

"It's fine," Adam replied. "I understand why you want to go and," he hesitated. "It'll be nice to see the twins even if they can't see me."

Ginny paused for a second before giving him a kiss. She was so glad they were together now.

It wasn't long before both she and Adam were ready to go. The two of them left the tent and walked back through the factory buildings towards the nearest underground station.

As Ginny boarded one of the trains, she still couldn't quite believe that Muggles had actually managed to make trains that ran under the ground. _How on earth did they dig those big tunnels without magic?_

Once they were within walking distance of the Leaky Cauldron, Adam slipped under the cloak and Ginny led the way towards the wizarding pub.

They made it through the Leaky Cauldron without incident and Ginny soon found herself outside the twins' shop. She froze at the doorway, glancing apprehensively at the fairly large number of people inside. She couldn't see Fred or George.

Suddenly, she felt a set of hands on her shoulders, pushing her forward. She rolled her eyes; Adam was telling her to get a move on.

She moved slowly through the shop and approached the desk where the clerk, Verity, was currently working.

"Excuse me," she said politely. "Can I speak with Mr. Weasley please?"

"Both Mr. Weasleys are currently busy," Verity replied.

"Verity," Ginny replied, letting her frustration bleed into her voice. "Please fetch Fred or George. They will want to speak to me."

Verity hesitated slightly, before nodding at Ginny and disappearing into the back room.

Fred, George and Verity reappeared a few seconds later, and Ginny felt their eyes on her immediately.

"Hello," Fred replied officiously, looking at her with a funny expression. "What can we do for you?"

Ginny hesitated, forcing herself, despite how much she wanted to hug her brother, to stand still.

Ginny gestured to the door to the back room. "Can we go somewhere private?"

Fred and George looked at each other and hesitated.

"Err..." George stammered.

Ginny hesitated, she wasn't sure if the twins recognised her, but she couldn't announce her identity in the shop, someone might hear. She wracked her brain for something that would make the twins realise that it was a matter that need to be discussed in private. Suddenly, with a start she realised she had it. It was so simple. "I'm here on behalf of your investor."

Fred and George's eyes widened and they froze.

"Yes..." Fred said hesitantly, recovering first from his surprise, and he waved towards the door.

Ginny walked through the door behind Fred and George and held the door open until she felt a soft touch on her side as Adam let her know that he had followed her.

"So..." Fred began, once she had closed the door.

"Fred!" Ginny exclaimed. "It's me!"

"What?" George questioned.

"Ginny!"

The room was silent.

"It is you!" Fred exclaimed.

"Your hair!" George exclaimed. "And where are your freckles?"

"Brother!" Fred exclaimed suddenly and the twins looked at each other for a second.

"Yes," George continued. "Prove it."

Ginny sighed in exasperation.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Adam's disembodied voice came from nowhere.

"Adam!" Fred and George both exclaimed. "Where are you?"

"I'm invisible," Adam replied. "I better not show myself, but honestly that is Ginny," he chuckled. "I did check quite thoroughly."

Ginny wished Adam wasn't invisible right then, so she had someone to glare at.

Fred and George burst out in laughter and Ginny quickly found herself enveloped in a hug.

"It's good to see you guys!" She exclaimed.

"Ginny," Fred exclaimed as he released her. "What happened? Why did the Ministry come for you?"

"We've both been framed," Ginny said wryly. "I think the Ministry are convinced that I helped Adam with his dastardly plot."

"We knew you could never have done it, mate," George said to the invisible Adam.

"Thanks, guys," Adam replied.

"Can you show yourself, mate?" Fred asked.

Ginny froze, Adam was Harry right now.

"Better not," Adam added. "Don't want to risk not getting the spell right if we're going back out into the alley."

"Aren't you staying?" Fred exclaimed.

"No," Ginny replied firmly. "I... I just wanted to let you know that we're alright and wondered if you could get the message discretely to Mum and Dad."

"We're pretty sure they will be watching The Burrow," Adam added.

"Ginny!" George began. "Stay here and hide upstairs, at least then you'll be safe!"

"I'm safe with Adam!" Ginny protested in response. "I'm fine, we're both fine."

"You're only fifteen!" Fred exclaimed.

_So what that she was only fifteen! Adam needed her!_

Suddenly the door behind them opened and Ginny spun around. There was no one there; Adam must have opened it. He must be sending her a message that it was time to go.

"I'm going now," Ginny said, softly. "Please pass the message on to Mum and Dad."

"Ginny!" The twins exclaimed together. "Please..."

With that she turned and ran out of the back room, back through the shop and out onto Diagon Alley. Once outside she continued down the alley, wanting to get out of view of the shop. She hoped Adam had been able to follow her, but she would have to wait until he made himself known somehow.

Ginny strode down the alley, keeping her eyes peeled for anyone she recognised or any signs that she had been spotted. The alley was smattered with a few shoppers but, thankfully, there was no one acting suspiciously towards her. Suddenly, as she neared the end of the alley and was about to turn around, she froze. Ollivander's shop was deserted, the windows were smashed and the door appeared to be hanging off its hinges.

"Oh no," Ginny gasped quietly.

She took two paces towards the shop, when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around and grabbed at her wand, but there was nobody there.

"Adam..." she whispered.

"It's me," he said in a surprisingly husky voice. "They got him..." then he was silent. "Because he helped us."

"Yeah," Ginny replied, scrambling for an invisible hand to squeeze. "I don't think we should stand here for too long staring at it."

"You're right," Adam replied at length, sounding slightly dazed. "Might attract attention," he sighed. "Let's get back, then?"

Ginny nodded and then looked at the spot where she thought Adam was. "Follow me, then?"

The two of them walked back down Diagon Alley and then back out through the Leaky Cauldron. It wasn't until they were a considerable distance from the wizarding pub that Adam felt safe enough to remove the cloak so the two of them could walk hand in hand back towards what had become their new home.

"Adam," Ginny ventured hesitantly as they walked along. "What now?"

Adam sighed. "I don't really know. Wait until I'm seventeen then we can go check out the cave. Dumbledore was pretty sure there was a Horcrux there."

"Can we do anything about that before your seventeen?" she sighed in exasperation. "It just seems like we're wasting so much time."

"I know," Adam replied as they continued walking towards the nearest of the Muggle underground train stations. "But I don't see what we can do."

"Well," Ginny began. "I think we should at least start looking into locating the cave."

"It's at some place called Ramsey Island," Adam replied. "Dumbledore told me."

"But we need to find how to get there, don't we?" Ginny replied firmly. "You've said yourself we can't Apparate there because you don't know what it looks like to visualise it, so we need to get there by Muggle means. Surely we can go and find out how we do that. So when we it's time to go there we already know the way."

"Yes," Adam replied, stopping in his tracks with his expression suddenly brightening. "Great idea."

"I know," Ginny replied smugly, with a small grin.

Adam chuckled in response. "I know exactly where we can go," he paused. "When I lived on the streets..." he hesitated, sounding a little uncomfortable about what he was saying, "...near a restaurant. There was a place that did all sorts of travel things, booked holidays, trains and buses. I bet they'll be able to tell us how to get there."

**Ron  
July 21st 1997**

Ron unenthusiastically helped his mother lay the table for the family's evening meal. Not that it felt like much of a family anymore, with only him, mum and dad. Since Ginny had vanished the house had seemed empty. Mum moped around the house doing the housework, Dad continued going to work and Ron tried to behave normally, but very little of what he normally did seemed any fun on his own. Even once the twins had moved out he had always had Ginny and Adam around. Now it was just him.

As he was laying the table, the Floo activated and Mum bustled over to it. She held a quick conversation as Ron finished the table.

"Ron!" Mum called as the Floo deactivated. She was smiling widely. "Lay two extra places the twins are coming for dinner tonight!"

Ron grinned in response. "Brilliant!" He replied. The twins were always a good laugh.

Ron went to the cupboard and grabbed extra plates, while Mum went back to the cooker to prepare extra food for the twins.

An hour later Ron, Fred, George and his mum were all sitting around the table waiting for Dad. He was late back _again_ from the Ministry. Then, nearly half an hour later than normal, the Floo finally activated and Dad stepped through. He looked tired and harried.

"Hello, Weasleys," he said tiredly and he trudged towards the table.

"Oh, Arthur," Mum exclaimed and shot to her feet. "Bad day?"

"Yeah," Dad replied tiredly. "They're pushing so much new legislation through," he angrily slammed his fist down on the kitchen unit. "Making a mockery of everything we believe in."

"Oh, Arthur," Mum repeated. "Come and sit down. Is there anything we can do?"

Ron watched as his dad tiredly sank down into the chair.

"Dad..." Fred began. "There's something we need to tell you."

Suddenly the Floo flashed to life again, cutting Fred off in the middle of his sentence. The fire flared and a man stepped through. Ron recognised him instantly. It was Yaxley the man who had come to arrest Ginny.

"Good evening, Arthur," he said smugly as he strutted across their kitchen, picked up a cake from tray waiting on the counter and put it in his mouth.

"Who the hell are you?" George exclaimed, as both he and Fred shot to their feet and drew their wands.

"Wands away, boys," Dad said firmly. "What do you want, Yaxley? Why are you in my home?" Dad continued venomously.

"I just thought I'd pop by," Yaxley said with an evil grin. "I thought you might have overheard a conversation in the Ministry today and I just wanted you to be aware of the consequences of anyone finding out about it," he walked over to dad and poked him in the chest. "And believe me, if you tell anyone we'll know."

"Oh," Dad replied tonelessly. "I understand about confidentiality."

"Good," Yaxley replied and then he smirked. "By the way, we're closing in on young Ginevra, I ..." he gave a mock sigh. "I just hope that she isn't killed resisting arrest."

At that, the twins swore loudly and Mum gave a quiet shriek.

"You've said your bit, Yaxley," Dad spat. "Now get out."

With that, Yaxley walked over to the tray, grabbed another cake and said. "These are delicious, you know. Well," he paused. "Good day."

The Floo flashed bright green again as Yaxley stepped into it and then he was gone.

"Why did you let him just waltz in here like that?" George demanded loudly.

Dad held up his hand to silence George, he then moved over to the fireplace, pointed his wand at it and then sat back down.

"Just to make sure we aren't disturbed again," he said tiredly. "That _man_ is the head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement. We're all being watched. I'm sure they have at least one man watching the house at all times. I'm monitored at the Ministry and I know our Floo and all our mail is being intercepted, and I wouldn't be surprised if the shop and Bill at Gringotts are also being watched."

Ron noticed that twins paled slightly at this.

"For whatever reason, the new Ministry has targeted Ginny using the allegations levelled at Adam as an excuse, but they have left the rest of us alone. Yaxley is only too keen to remind me that if we put a foot wrong we'll all end up in Azkaban," he hesitated. "Or worse, but the only other option I can see is for all of us to just disappear... leave the country or something."

"We can't run away!" Mum exclaimed. "We can't leave, Ginny!" she paused. "Now, what was he on about... something that you overheard?"

Dad sighed. "It's their new drive on blood purity. Anyone with less than half-blood status is to be investigated to determine if they acquired their wizarding powers legitimately."

"What!" Fred, George and Mum all cried.

_Oh Merlin!_ Ron thought in a panic. _Hermione!_

"What about Hermione?" Ron ventured anxiously.

"I," Dad began hesitantly. "Her, too. She may even be treated worse, because she's friends with Adam and Ginny."

Ron put his head in his hands. Hermione was going to get thrown into Azkaban.

"We need to warn her!" he exclaimed.

"I know," Dad replied. "I will try to warn Minerva, so she can try to warn all the incoming Muggle-borns at Hogwarts."

"But if they're watching us," Fred began, "they're going to be at Hogwarts, too."

"I know," Dad replied. "I believe Minerva is also being watched, but I have to try. I don't think we can help them all, but I think we owe it to Hermione to try specifically to warn her."

Ron nodded enthusiastically, then he felt a suddenly surge of hopelessness. "I can't write to her, can I?"

"No," Dad said dejectedly. "We'll have to think of another way to warn her. I'm guessing her house isn't on the Floo network?"

Ron shook his head.

Dad sighed again. "Not that we could use that way anyway. We may just have to risk one us Apparating there."

"Dad," Fred suddenly interrupted. "This sort of links with what we were going to tell you."

"We had a visitor at the shop today," George continued lowering his voice. "Ginny."

"Really?" Dad exclaimed, beaming and taking Mum's hand. "How is she?"

"She seemed fine. Adam was there with her. He was invisible and Ginny had dyed her hair and covered up her freckles. We hardly recognised her," Fred continued.

"They wanted us to just tell you that they're okay," George finished. "She seemed healthy."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Mum exclaimed. "They're both alright and they're together."

Ron, despite the seriousness of the situation, couldn't help but chuckle. "Was there ever any doubt where she would go?"

The rest of the table's occupants shook their heads.

"Anyway," Fred continued. "We were thinking that if they are going to use us to keep in contact, they may be better able to warn Hermione."

"Brilliant idea, son," Dad added. "The Ministry, despite what Yaxley said, doesn't know where they are. Adam and Ginny could probably visit her, especially if you say they were able to disguise themselves and Adam was able to make himself invisible."

"But can't we do anything sooner?" Ron exclaimed. He didn't like the idea that Hermione was unaware that she was in danger.

"Ron," Dad replied, reaching over to clap him on the shoulder. "I know you want to help her, but waiting to see if Adam or Ginny make contact again is the safest way. We will warn her before Hogwarts starts again even if I have to Apparate there myself, but at the moment they aren't actually moving against the Muggle-borns. I think they are relying on rounding the children up once they get back to Hogwarts."

"Dad," Ron said, asking the other question that was on his mind. "With all this going on, will I be going back to Hogwarts?"

"I don't know, son," Dad replied. "I just don't know."


	5. Chapter 4

**Ginny  
July 30th 1997**

Ginny had discovered yet another new form of Muggle transportation. She was currently strapped into the back seat of a Muggle car with Adam sitting next to her. _Who would have thought you could pay a Muggle to drive you somewhere in their car!_ The car itself was a lot more posh than her dad's Ford Anglia. It even had leather seats! Even so, Ginny doubted this car could fly as well as her dad's.

They had been travelling nearly all day to get to the location where Professor Dumbledore had believed the cave with the Horcrux was. They'd had to get on and off several trains and Ginny had to admit, it had been quite fun. She had even been able to forget, for a while, why they were travelling. It had been nice to pretend, even just for a few minutes, that she and Adam were off on a holiday together!

Eventually, after they had been in the car for nearly half an hour, they rolled past a large sign reading:

_Welcome to_  
_Ramsey Island._

"Finally," Ginny said, looking over at Adam.

"Yes," he smiled back. "Here at last."

Entering the village, the car rumbled down a dark street and into the village square. The driver stopped the car, and they both clambered out.

Ginny looked around the square. It was fairly well lit by the nearby street lights and she could see several brightly lit buildings that fronted onto the open area.

"Ginny?" Adam's voice distracted her. "Ready to go?"

Ginny took his hand and they began walking across the square. Adam had the backpack slung across his back. It wasn't particularly heavy because they had decided to leave the majority of their things behind in London and only bring the essentials, plus her broom of course. Tomorrow Adam was seventeen, so they could at last both do magic and Adam would be able to Apparate them back to London.

"Shall we take a look around?" Adam asked as they reached the centre of the square.

Ginny nodded enthusiastically and the two of them had an enjoyable time peering into shop windows as they walked by. They bought an evening meal in the village pub, getting some funny looks in the process, but no one said anything and, much to Ginny's relief, they saw no sign of any other wizards.

The evening drew on and suddenly Adam yawned loudly as they peered in the window of a local gift shop.

"I think we should find somewhere to stay for the night," Ginny suggested. "I think I saw a hotel back where we were dropped off."

"Yeah," Adam said, his voice suddenly turning serious. "I think we'll need to be at our best tomorrow."

Ginny and Adam walked back across the square to the small hotel they had seen earlier. The building was easy to find because of the brightly lit sign hanging above the door of the white-painted building. Hoping there was a room available, they stepped into the reception area.

"Hello, dears," the elderly woman behind the desk exclaimed. "You're out and about late!"

"Hi," Ginny replied brightly. "Have you got any rooms free?"

"You're in luck, deary," the woman replied with a smile. "I have. We're normally full at this time of year," but then she hesitated, looking at Adam and then Ginny in turn. "But I've only got the one left..."

Ginny hesitated and looked over at Adam but he only shrugged. _It wouldn't be a problem sharing a room would it?_ She wondered anxiously. While they were living in the tent, they were effectively sharing a room, having only a flap for privacy. _Anyway_, Ginny decided at last._ It's much better for us to be together in case something happens_.

"Yes," Ginny replied nodding. "That's fine. We'll share."

The woman gave them a funny look for a second, and then began rummaging below the counter.

"Thirty pounds, please," she said with a smile. "That's with breakfast, too."

Adam stepped forward, grabbed several pieces of Muggle paper money out of his pocket and passed it to the woman.

"Thank you," she said, holding out a key. "Number twenty-two, on the second floor."

"Thanks!" Ginny added.

"Thank you," Adam said, leaning forward to take the room key.

"So how much did the room cost in galleons?" Ginny asked as they wandered through the hotel looking for room twenty-two.

"Hmm," Adam said, pausing for a second. "About ten I think... I'm not quite sure."

"Ten galleons!" Ginny exclaimed. "We should have just brought the tent!"

Adam laughed. "We've got plenty of money, Ginny. Anyway, it'll be nice to sleep inside again."

After wandering around for several minutes they eventually found the room, and Adam unlocked the door. He trooped into the room in front of her and suddenly froze.

"What's up?" Ginny questioned, trying to peer around him.

She slipped past him and then she too froze. There was only one bed in the room: a double bed.

"Oh," Ginny said.

"Well..." Adam said with a sigh. "There was only one room," he paused. "Not to worry. I've got the sleeping bag. You take the bed. I'll sleep on the floor," he paused. "I should probably stay up on guard for a bit anyway."

"Adam..." Ginny protested weakly. That wasn't fair on him. "Don't be silly. We're safe here, you don't need to stay up. I'll sleep on one side, you on the other."

"Er..." Adam said, looking very apprehensive. "I'll be fine, honest."

"Adam!" Ginny exclaimed, her anger spiking at his hesitance. "You said it yourself we'll need to be at our best tomorrow! We've slept together in the common room before!"

"Yes!" Adam said back, his voice beginning to rise. "But this is a bed!"

"That's a really stupid reason!" Ginny retorted.

"But..." Adam stammered. "Your parents..."

"Aren't here!" Ginny snapped back, putting her hands on her hips. "Now Listen. Don't be stupid! I'm going into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Pick a side and get in!"

Ginny then stomped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Still feeling annoyed with Adam, Ginny quickly changed into her night clothes and walked towards the door. Putting her hand on the door handle she froze, hesitating a second and then blushing furiously.

_Here I go ranting at Adam,_ she thought. _And now I'm feeling the same!_

Shaking her head, Ginny opened the door, switched off the light and strode into the bedroom. She grinned slightly when she saw that Adam had done as she said and had lain down beneath the quilt on the far side of the bed.

Putting her things on the dressing table, Ginny switched off the light and slipped into bed on the other side.

She searched with her hand under the quilt until his hand found hers and she felt him give it a squeeze.

"Adam," she said softly.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Night."

"Night, Ginny."

Ginny lay there in silence for several minutes, listening to Adam's breathing. Once she was confident he was asleep, she wriggled slightly closer to him and, after tossing and turning for a while, eventually drifted off the sleep.

**Adam  
July 31st 1997**

The sunlight streaming in through the curtains woke Adam the next morning. _Strange_, he thought blearily as he squeezed his eyes shut against the bright light. _I've slept much later than normal._

As he stretched himself, getting ready to get up, he heard a soft sigh and felt something move against him.

Quickly, he opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of Ginny's face on the pillow only inches from his. It was then that he realised they were both lying near the centre of the bed, both of them having obviously moved in the night.

Not really thinking about what he was doing, Adam put his arm over Ginny's body and she snuggled up closer against him, murmuring softly.

As Adam lay there for several minutes just staring at her, he felt the strangest feeling sweep over him, one he couldn't recall ever feeling before, but, before he could determine what it was, Ginny moved. Her body tensed and her eyes flew open. They widened slightly, obviously slightly shocked at how close they were.

"Hi," she said softly, suddenly blushing furiously.

"Er... Hi." Adam hesitated. "I think we moved in the night."

Suddenly, Ginny wriggled even closer to him and kissed him.

"Happy Birthday!" She exclaimed with a grin.

Adam grinned back. "Thanks!"

They lay there, staring at each other for several seconds.

"Er..." Adam said hesitantly. "Should we..."

Ginny blinked. "Yeah..." She hesitated. "I'll just..."

Adam lay still and allowed Ginny to disentangle herself from him. Once up, she disappeared into the bathroom, while Adam got himself up and began getting ready to search for the cave.

Adam and Ginny ate breakfast together and then wandered down to the meagre beach on the outskirts of the village. Using it as a starting point, they wandered up and down the coastline searching for caves.

By mid-afternoon, they had yet to find a cave that looked even remotely like it could have been used to hide a Horcrux. They had previously searched three other caves, but these had all been easily accessible and one had even had some tourists in it. There was no way Lord Voldemort would hide a Horcrux somewhere where it would be stumbled upon by Muggles.

"There!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly, as they trudged up one of the many coastal paths in the area.

Adam stared at where she was pointing. The coastline seemed to curve inwards in front of them and set at the deepest point of the curve was a cave. As he looked at it he shivered, goose bumps prickling on the surface of his skin.

"Let's get closer," Adam suggested, his voice strangely quiet.

They followed the coastal path and then trudged across the long grass until they were standing at the top of the cliff just above the cave.

Adam crept closer to the edge, and stared at the deadly drop in front of him. The sea rolled below, smashing up against several large chunks of rock that appeared to have fallen from the cliff and into the sea below.

"This is it," Adam said with confidence. "It feels right."

"I know," Ginny added hesitantly. "I guess we head down on the broom then."

Adam nodded in response and began searching the area for nearby Muggles. Finding none, they mounted the broom together and, after a brief argument over who got to control the broom, they shot over the side of the cliff.

Adam guided the broom down towards the entrance of the cave and in through the entrance.

"_Lumos_," he heard Ginny mutter, when the light failed as they ventured deeper inside the cave.

They flew cautiously down a dark tunnel by the light of Ginny's wand. The tunnel stretched in front of them as they flew on, surrounded on all sides by dripping wet, slimy walls or the channel of pulsating water. After several minutes, the tunnel curved suddenly to the left and Adam was relieved to discover that they had now reached the point where the cave had a floor. Finally they could get off the broom and walk.

"_Lumos_," Adam whispered, lighting his wand.

He gazed around, his wandlight reflecting strangely off the slick walls. The narrow tunnel they had emerged from had become a huge cavern. It was far bigger than he had imagined, stretching far away back into the darkness.

"There's nothing here!" Ginny exclaimed in frustration her voice echoing strangely, as she searched the seemingly empty cave. "I thought we had it, it felt like we had it..."

Adam stood, disbelievingly, in the centre of the room. _He was so sure this was the right place!_

"Damn," Ginny continued, still muttering angrily. "I guess we look for the next cave then."

"No," Adam said firmly. "This is right. I can feel it. We just have to figure it out."

He wracked his brain, thinking back to the time when Professor Dumbledore had taken him to the Gaunt house.

"Blood!" He exclaimed.

"What?" Ginny questioned.

"Blood!"

Adam grabbed his wand, and, before he had a chance to chicken out, whispered. "_Diffindo_."

"Adam!" Ginny screeched as blood oozed from the incision he had made in his hand.

Ignoring her, Adam ran over to the one of walls and pressed his bloody hand against the slimy stone.

Nothing happened.

"Adam?" Ginny queried sounding concerned.

"Wait," Adam replied softly. "This is what Dumbledore did at the Gaunt house."

With blood still welling from the cut in his hand, Adam moved along the wall of the cave pressing his hand against it every so often. He had made his way about a third of the way around the cave when there was a flash and a giant, blazing white, archway appeared in the rock.

Adam leapt back in shock and Ginny gasped in surprise.

"You did it!" She exclaimed, running up to stand by his side. "Oh, Adam," she admonished, grabbing his hand and examining the wound. "Wasn't there an easier way?"

Adam shook his head in response. "Dumbledore said that Tom liked to use blood to unlock things."

"Oh," Ginny replied flatly, taking out her wand and, bringing it up to the cut, whispered a spell.

"Thanks," Adam replied with a small smile as the skin resealed itself.

"Well," Ginny said, now sounding nervous. "I guess we go through, then."

Adam nodded. "I'll go first, keep your eyes peeled."

The two of them walked through the archway. On the other side, stretching out in front of him as far as he could see, was a black lake. It was so huge that Adam could not make out where it ended or see anything other than the still water. The cave itself was completely without natural light, lit only by the light of their wands and a strange greenish glow that seemed to originate from some far off point across the lake.

"Adam..." Ginny said in a hushed voice. "Do you think that light could be, you know, where the Horcrux is?"

"Yeah," Adam responded in an equally awed tone. "It could be."

"We'll have to cross the lake, then," Ginny said, evidently shuddering at the thought of swimming in that black water. "Hang on!" she exclaimed suddenly brightening. "We can use the broom," she withdrew her wand and cast. "_Accio _Broom!"

The broom shot into Ginny's hand from where they had left it by the archway.

"Hmm," Ginny commented. "The broom feels strange."

"Can it fly?" Adam asked, feeling nervous now. If the broom wouldn't work, then they were stuffed.

"Yeah..." Ginny said. "I got it," she paused and shot him a small smile. "But I'm flying this time."

The two of them mounted their broom and began to traverse the lake. Their flight wasn't smooth by any means and Ginny seemed to be struggling to keep control of the broom, something that Adam had never seen before.

"Ginny..." Adam said hesitantly a short time into the flight. They had made decent progress, but they were now definitely beginning to lose height.

"I know!" Ginny snapped in response. "It's the broom, not me! I'm trying to get it to pull up, but something is pulling us down into the lake!"

The broom continued to fall until they were flying only a metre or so above the water. Adam was sure if they went any lower his feet would begin getting wet.

"I think we may have to swim for it after all!" Ginny said grimly. "The broom..."

As she was speaking, Adam suddenly felt his entire body go cold; a movement in the lake had caught his eye. Just below the surface of the water there was a pale hand, moving slowly back and forward as if caught by a non-existent current.

"Ginny!" Adam gasped, in horror. "Pick up your feet and get this broom up. There are _things_ in the lake!"

"I'm trying!" Ginny cried.

"Try harder!" Adam called frantically. "Try something else!"

"Okay! Okay!" Ginny snapped, panic now evident in her voice. "On three lean backwards as far as you can! One. Two. Three!"

Adam threw his entire body weight backwards and Ginny did the same, her back slamming into his chest. The broom shuddered and _screamed_, the only other similar sound Adam had ever heard was the sound of someone's nails scraping down a blackboard.

"It's working!" Adam cried, as, after a few seconds of painful shuddering, the broom finally began to gain height.

"My broom!" Ginny cried, as the screaming intensified. The broom rocked violently and then pitched back down. "It sounds like its dying!" Ginny moaned morosely as she put on more speed.

"We need to do it again!" Adam called a few seconds later. Once again the broom was losing height as they were sucked, as if by some invisible force, back down towards the lake. "We need to get as much height as possible!"

They repeated their earlier manoeuvre and once again the broom screamed like an injured animal.

"The charms on it are getting weaker!" Ginny called to him, once she had wrestled the broom back under control. "I don't know if we can do it again!"

"Keep flying!" Adam cried back. "We need to stay out of the water!"

They kept flying, all the time losing height. Then, Adam felt a flicker of hope. The greenish light they had seen when they entered the cave was getting brighter.

"We'll have to try the thing again!" Ginny called. "By the look of it we are only a few metres from the surface."

They pitched up yet again but this time, by Adam's estimate, they only gained a few metres of height.

"Just keep flying!" Adam called to Ginny, gripping her around the waist. "We need to just hope we're close enough. The light is getting even closer!"

They screamed towards the light, which was now tantalisingly close, the whole time loosing height in a seemingly unstoppable dive towards the lake and the _things_.

"We're not going to make it!" Ginny cried.

"Keep going!" Adam yelled in response. "We can't give up!"

The broom, now constantly making the screaming noise, shot towards the island, still loosing height.

"Nearly there!" Adam shouted, picking his feet up so they wouldn't touch the water. "I think we'll need to stand up!"

As the broom screamed forward, Ginny helped Adam stand up on its handle. He in turn then helped Ginny to her feet.

"It'll touch the water in a second!" Ginny said, in panic. "We're not going to make it!"

"If we don't make it, we'll just have to fight whatever is under the water!" he called, realising that Ginny was probably right. The water was so close now that he could have touched it if he had still been sitting on the broom

"The broom's going to touch!" Ginny screamed.

Adam squinted at the rapidly growling green light.

"Put your arms around me and we'll jump!" he ordered, gripping Ginny around her midsection.

"NOW!" he screamed, once he felt Ginny's arms securely clamp around his waist.

The two of them leapt forward as the broom disappeared beneath them, and Adam felt himself collide with something hard.

"Ughh..." Adam grunted as he came back to his senses several seconds later. Checking his body over, he stood up and looked around.

Everything was pitch black except for the bright green glow which seemed to now not be too far away.  
_  
_ _Ginny!_ _  
_  
Realising that he couldn't see Ginny, Adam quickly lit his wand and looked around. He had landed about two feet from the edge of water, on what appeared to be a small island. Ginny was lying on the floor next to him. Adam knelt down next to her and gently shook her shoulder.

"That hurt," she moaned rubbing her face, as Adam helped her sit up.

Adam couldn't help but smile and he gave her a quick kiss. "We made it," he said. "We're on some sort of island."

She quickly got to her feet and lit her wand. "I..." she hesitated, as she looked around. "I guess my broom's gone, then?"

"I think the things in the water got it," Adam replied sadly. "I jumped just as it was about to touch the surface.

"Well," Ginny said, failing to hide her disappointment. "At least, we got here in one piece!"

"Now we're stuck here," Adam added glumly.

"Let's at least try to get the Horcrux," Ginny said, giving his hand a squeeze. "Then we can worry about getting back across. As dad says; 'One Problem at a Time.'"

"Okay," Adam replied. "Let's take a look at that green light."

Adam and Ginny approached the green light, and, as they drew closer, they saw that it was coming from a stone basin.

"It looks a bit like a Pensieve," Adam mused.

"There's liquid in here," Ginny said, leaning over the basin. "And the green light seems to be coming from something in the liquid."

Her hand shot out and then suddenly quickly withdrew with a yelped "Ow!"

"Ginny!" Adam exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Ginny replied. "I tried to grab the thing, but the water seems to have a solid barrier in front of it!"

Adam cautiously put his hand into the basin and found that he too couldn't actually touch the water.

"Hang on!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly and, taking out her wand, she lowered it into the liquid. "I can put my wand in it!" She cried and began moving the wand around inside the liquid. "There's definitely something there, but it won't move!"

"Hmm, so we can put things in the liquid, but we just can't put our hands in," Adam mused, wracking his brain for a solution. "Any ideas?"

Ginny shook her head. "Okay, so we can't reach into the liquid. Do you reckon we could tip it out, or scoop it out somehow?"

"Hmm..." Adam mused and he walked forward, put his hands on the basin and pushed it with all might.

"Enough," Ginny continued, with a short sharp laugh. "That was probably never going to work. So do we have anything to scoop it out with?"

Adam was silent for several seconds. Then an idea hit him and grabbing the back-pack off his back, he began rummaging in the pockets.

"My camping flask!" Adam said enthusiastically. "It has a cup on it!"

Retrieving the cup Adam threw it to Ginny, who dipped it into the water.

"I can't scoop the thing up!" she called back to him in frustration. "It's like it's stuck to the bottom of the basin! I'm going to try to empty the liquid."

Adam watched her intently. "Yes!" he exclaimed as he watched Ginny successfully scoop a cup full of liquid and tip it over the side of the basin.

The liquid, once Ginny had tipped it out of the cup, fell towards the floor. As it neared the rocky ground, it changed direction and, like the stream of water caused by the _Aguamenti_ spell it poured itself back into the basin.

"Bugger!" Adam said, his shoulders sagging.

"He's not making this easy," Ginny growled. "So we can't get the thing out of the water, we can't tip the water away, how else can we get rid of it?"

Adam stared at the water for a second, feeling a sinking feeling in his stomach. "We drink it..." he said faintly.

They both stood there for several minutes staring at the basin.

"Right," Ginny said decidedly, breaking the silence. "It makes sense for me to drink it."

"No way!" Adam exclaimed. "I'll drink it!"

"Adam!" Ginny retorted. "You're a better duellist than me if something happens! Plus you can Apparate; if it makes me ill you can Apparate us to get help rather than have to go back on the train again!"

"Ginny!" Adam said, his voice involuntarily rising. "There is no way I'm going to let you drink it!"

"Let me?" Ginny snapped back. "It makes sense for me to do this! I'm volunteering to do it! I said I was in this with you, whatever happens, and if whatever means me drinking this, then so be it! It's hardly going to kill me, is it! If it did, Tom would never be able to retrieve the Horcrux if he wanted to move it."

They both stared at each other for several minutes, neither flinching. Ginny was still standing by the basin with Adam facing her. Their silent argument went on for nearly a minute longer, neither of them prepared to back down. Adam knew Ginny's suggestion made sense logically, but he wasn't prepared to think logically when it came to the possibility of Ginny getting hurt.

Suddenly, Ginny's face crumpled.

"A-A-Adam..." she said in a tiny voice. "Something's coming!"

Adam whipped out his wand and spun around.

There was nothing there.

He turned back towards Ginny. She now had the cup from the flask pressed to her lips and was pointing her wand at him.

"NO!" Adam screamed.

"This is my job, Adam. I need to drink all of this so we can get the Horcrux," she said gravely and then she put the cup to her mouth and drank. "If I don't then Tom's won."

"Ginny," Adam moaned in distress, unable to move as Ginny calmly lowered the mug to the basin and drank another mug full.

Ginny didn't stop drinking. She moved the mug down and filled up a third cup, and as she moved the mug to her mouth Adam noticed that her arm was trembling. The mug touched her lips and she groaned, her body visibly sagging. Her wand fell from her grip and her wand hand moved up to the mug keeping it to her mouth as her body slumped against the basin.

"Ginny!" Adam cried, charging forward, just about managing to catch her before as she fell to the floor. Holding her body gently Adam lowered her to the floor and pulled her head and shoulders onto his lap.

Ginny's face was twitching slightly and her eyes were closed.

"Ginny," Adam said in a quiet voice, rubbing his hand over her hair and face. "Oh, Ginny."

Her eyes cracked open and she looked up at him.

"More," she gasped. "Don't let me stop. Promise me you won't let me stop."

"Ginny..."

"Promise me!" she rasped. "More!"

Adam adjusted Ginny in his lap so he could reach up and fill the mug without getting up. He filled another mug with the liquid and pressed it to Ginny's lips, trying not to hate himself for doing this.

As she drank Adam was sure he could see a smile on her lips.

_She's made her decision,_ Adam thought grimly. _If I drink it now we'll both be incapacitated.  
_  
Once Ginny had finished the next mug, her eyes began darting around the room, seemingly unable to focus on anything.

Adam reached up again and filled up the mug and pressed it to Ginny's lips.

"Nnmmm," Ginny grunted and shook her head but still allowed the liquid to flow into her mouth. It was almost as if she was fighting herself.

As he filled up the next cup, Ginny suddenly gasped.

"Adam!" she nearly screamed. "Adam!"

"Ginny?" Adam asked, moving the cup closer to her mouth, and hating himself the whole time.

"Adam!" she cried again. "Don't!"

"Ginny," Adam pulled her closer to him. "I'm here, but you have to. You told me to make sure you did. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry!"

He held the cup to her and tipped it down her throat.

"Adam!" Ginny screamed yet again. "Harry!"

Adam, who had just refilled the mug, looked down at her. Her eyes were staring into space.

"Adam," she moaned, sounding like a small child.

"I'm here," Adam said, doing his best to comfort her.

"Adam, I know you're famous," she wailed. "But don't leave me!"

"Ginny!" Adam said in response, feeling the all too familiar prickling sensation behind his eyes but also feeling genuinely puzzled. "I won't leave you! I won't! I promise!"

He gently pushed the mug towards her lips and as the liquid flowed into her mouth, her hands shot up and began tugging the loose ends of her hair. Once he removed the mug from her lips Ginny screamed again, this time a full blown scream of terror.

"Tom! Don't kill him!" she sobbed. "Take me! Don't make me... Don't kill... " she began murmuring something indecipherable, before her eyes flew open and she screamed. "Noooooooooooooo! HARRRYYYY!"

"Ginny!" Adam choked out, barely holding back a sob.

Ginny seemed to slump in his lap before she reached out, as if searching for something.

"Here... drink this!" Adam said, once one her hands grasped at the mug.

"Yes!" she gasped suddenly, her arms now falling limply back to her sides allowing Adam to tip the drink down her throat. "Thank you... I'll drink it all."

Adam filled the next mug and held it to Ginny's lips. This time her arm shot out and pushed it away, and she screamed yet again. This time it was a dismal wailing sound that broke Adam's heart.

"Ginny!" He sobbed. "Drink this... please drink it..."

He was finally able to force the drink down her throat, hating himself even more every second. As she finished the final gulp, her eyes once again flew open and she made eye contact with him.

"Adam..." she said softly.

"Ginny," Adam said, forcing a smile onto his face. "You're okay... you're okay."

"Adam..." she said, this time in a pleading voice. "Please..."

"Ginny, you have to drink."

"No," she said staring right into his eyes and her face contorted in pain. "Don't leave me, I know your famous, but I can be a better girlfriend," she hesitated. "I..." she trailed off and began tugging on her clothes. "...I promise I will! Please, Adam!"

"Ginny!" Adam exclaimed, kissing her. "I'm not going to leave you. I don't want to be famous!"

Ginny suddenly sobbed openly and began pounding her fists on his legs. "Don't lie! Don't lie!"

"Ginny!" Adam cried as he brought the mug towards her. "I'm not going to leave you!"

"You will..." Ginny sobbed. "You will..."

"Ginny, I won't," Adam sobbed back. "I... I love you," he gasped. "I'm always going to be with you!"

Ginny suddenly began to convulse in his arms and Adam had to grip her tightly, to stop her from thrashing around wildly.

"No!" she wailed. "No! No! No! No! Nooooooooo!"

"Ginny, you need to drink. This will make it all better!"

Adam continued to grip her thrashing body tightly, but then suddenly her eyes seemed to clear and she reached out towards the mug. In response, Adam brought the mug to her mouth, kissed her cheek and fed her the potion.

Adam reached up and filled the next mug and he sobbed in relief when he felt the mug scrape the bottom of the basin. _This is it, she just has to drink this one then it is all over._

Ginny was now whimpering and Adam could see tears streaking down her face.

"This is the last one, Ginny," Adam said, pressing the mug to her lips. "Just drink this, it'll all be over!"

"No, no, no, no, no, no," Ginny sobbed, shaking her head. "No, no, no, no, no. You can't be gone. You can't be gone. He can't have killed you!"

"I'm here! I'm here! Please..." Adam pleaded with her. "Please, just drink this!"

Ginny kept trying to move her head away. So Adam, once again filled with a sense of self loathing but also thinking about how mad Ginny would be if he allowed her to give up at the last hurdle, grabbed her head and forced her to drink it.

Once she had drunk the last mug of the potion, Ginny lay in his arms still twitching slightly. Then suddenly, she let out a sharp gasp and then her body went completely limp.

"Ginny!" Adam cried in horror. "Ginny!"

"What have I done to you?" he sobbed, as he laid her down on the floor. She was incredibly pale and her breathing was sharp and rapid. "Ginny!" He cried, shaking her, but she did not respond. "Ginny! _Rennervate_!"

Nothing happened.

"_Rennervate_!" He cried again. _"Rennervate_!"

Finally, her eyes flickered and opened.

"Ginny! Oh, Ginny!"

Ginny looked around the room, confusedly.

"Water..." she croaked faintly. "Water ... please."

Quick as a flash Adam grabbed the mug and shouted. "_Aguamenti_!"

The cup rapidly filled with water and Adam held it up to Ginny's lips tipping it so she could drink. She growled in frustration, and Adam saw that by the time the mug had reached her mouth it had somehow emptied.

"Water..." Ginny rasped, again panting desperately, as if she was struggling to breathe.

"What!" Adam cried. "_Aguamenti!"_

Once again the mug was empty before it reached Ginny's lips.

Nearly screaming in frustration Adam charged down to the edge of the lake and filled the mug from there. He spun around, dashed back to Ginny and he put the mug to her lips.

"Ah... Ahhhh!" Ginny said, sighing deeply in relief and her breathing seemed to immediately ease. "T-thanks," she mumbled softly. He eyes closed and she began breathing deep breaths as if luxuriating in the sensation.

"I'll get you out of here," Adam whispered to her, standing up intending to retrieve the Horcrux. "We did it, Ginny!"

As he stood, he saw before him the most horrifying sight he had ever encountered. Rising from the water in all directions were white figures and Adam realised in absolute terror that they were bodies, _dead bodies,_ of men, women and even children. He watched, frozen in terror, as the closest Inferi dragged themselves out of the water and began crawling, or shuffling towards him and Ginny.

Swinging into action, Adam quickly pocketed the golden locket that was now visible in the bottom of the basin. After all they had gone through to get it he didn't want to chance anything happening to it. With the Horcrux now safe, he grabbed his wand.

"_Stupefy!_" he fired at the closest corpse.

It had no effect.

_Come on, Adam! What works against Inferi! You read this somewhere!_

"_Expulso_!" Adam screamed the most powerful curse he knew at one of the Inferi. "_Expulso_!" Adam cast again, seeing his first spell hit the closest Inferius in the centre of the chest, causing its upper body to explode and shower the area with its disgusting congealed innards. _"Expulso! Expulso! Expulso_!"

Shattering Inferius after Inferius had very little effect on the stemming the tide of corpses that were trudging in an unstoppable wave towards them. They moved towards them like the tide, drawing ever closer. As they closed in around him, Adam couldn't help but wonder if this was to be the end. He and Ginny had bitten off far more than they could chew and they were going to die here... All because of him.

"_Incendio!_" Another voice called and a bolt of fire flew at the nearest Inferius, causing an explosion of fire, forcing the corpse backwards.

"Ginny!" Adam cried with joy. Ginny was back on her feet, still leaning heavily against the basin and panting desperately, but alive and firing spells at the Inferi.

_"Incendio!_"  
_  
"Incendio!"_

"Incendio!"

Adam and Ginny cast the Incendio spell time after time in rapid succession and slowly the bursts of fire around the island began to slow the flow of bodies.

_I need to get us out here!_ Adam thought desperately, as he continually cast the spell, forcing the Inferi backwards as they shrank away from the flames. _There has to be a way! There has to be something I can use to escape!_

Nothing came to mind.

_I need someway to get Ginny off this island! I need to save her! _he thought desperately as he sent a ball of fire at an Inferius that attempted to make its way closer to him.

As soon as he had finished that thought, he heard a gurgling sound coming from the lake and then suddenly a thick, coppery green chain flew out of the water, decapitating several Inferi on its way to him. It landed softly in his hand, almost as if he had summoned it.

"Fight!" Ginny rasped from his side, obviously seeing him staring dumbly at the chain. "Don't stop."

Adam transferred the chain to his left hand and continued firing spells in all directions. As he did so, he pulled on the chain, trapping it between his arm and body so he could pull it one handed.

"Follow the chain!" Adam called to Ginny, once the chain finally seemed to reach its end with a thud.

The two of them targeted the Inferi that were standing on both sides of the chain and slowly drove them out of the way with their spells. It was slow going with Ginny leaning heavily on Adam for support, but when he looked back, Adam discovered that island was now covered with advancing Inferi and that the only way for him and Ginny to move was forward, following the chain.

The two of them forged ahead, still firing spells as fast as physically possible, and eventually they reached the edge of the lake where a boat waited for them. It was the most wonderful thing Adam had ever seen. They charged forward, and Adam practically threw Ginny into the boat before jumping in himself. As soon as he was in, the boat started to move, sliding gracefully across the surface of the lake, away from the island.

"_Incendio_!" Adam cried, firing a continual stream of parting shots at the Inferi who were now streaming off the island and back into the water.

Once out of range, Adam took up a position at the rear of the boat, almost hanging off the back, keeping a sharp lookout and being ready to deal with any Inferi that might attempt to climb onto the boat. On several occasions he was forced to blast a decayed hand, arm or face away from the boat with the Blasting Curse.

He heaved a sigh of relief. He'd managed, just barely, to prevent any Inferi from climbing onto the boat.

"Let's go!" Adam called, leaping up from his position at the back of the boat, once it hit the far bank of the lake with a soft thud.

But Ginny didn't move. She was slumped, unconscious in the front of the boat. Feeling a sense of renewed panic, Adam dashed over to her. She was breathing, but unresponsive.

"_Rennervate_!"

It had no effect.

"_Rennervate_!" Adam cried, his voice more frantic than before.

Once again it had no effect.

"Ginny!" Adam cried, shaking her.

When she didn't respond, Adam cradled her in his arms and, lifting her out of the boat, he carried her back the way they had come. Once clear of the boat, Adam held Ginny in his arms and attempted to Apparate away.

It didn't work.

_Oh no!_ Adam realised. _It's just like at the Gaunt house. I'll have to get outside before I can Apparate._

So Adam, still carrying Ginny, continued through the cave until he reached the place where he thought the arch was. When he reached it, Adam found that it had closed, so he was forced to cut his hand again and search for the correct location.

Once clear of the archway Adam carried Ginny's limp body back towards the ocean. With no broom, he would be forced to swim. Without hesitation he plunged into the water, pulling himself along with one arm and using the other to ensure that Ginny's head did not go below the surface.

It was a ghastly experience, as Adam was forced to battle against the rolling waves. Their unrelenting force caused him to lose grip on Ginny several times, forcing him to dive to retrieve her._ Please, Merlin,_ he though as he began to tire, _Let her be okay!_

Eventually, an exhausted and sodden Adam crawled out of the sea, pulling Ginny's unconscious form behind him onto one of the rocks outside the cave. As he pulled her out of the water he could see that she was still breathing but was now pale and freezing cold.

Gripping her in a bear hug, Adam staggered to his feet, stood up and turned on the spot, hoping desperately that his Apparition would take them safely back to their tent in London.


	6. Chapter 5

**Adam  
August 1st 1997**

Adam extinguished the flame on the cooker, served his breakfast onto a plate and trudged back across the tent.

Pulling the flap aside, he paused as he stepped into what had become Ginny's room. She was lying peacefully on the bed, still unconscious.

Adam was, by now, nearly out of his mind with worry; she hadn't regained consciousness since he'd brought her back from the cave late the previous evening.

"Ginny," Adam whispered, sitting back down on the chair by her bedside. "Wake up, please," he continued in a soft voice, taking her hand and rubbing it. "Please come back to me."

She still did not stir.

Adam had checked her for any physical injuries and she appeared to have none. She just wouldn't wake up. He had forced himself to fight the tremendous urge to just take her to St Mungo's. That would probably only land her, and himself, in Azkaban, but if she didn't wake up soon, then he would have no choice but to get her some proper help from a healer.

Adam stared at her as he sat down and took a small bite of his breakfast. She looked so beautiful lying there peacefully. It had been the hardest thing Adam had ever done to force-feed Ginny that potion. Her reaction to it had been heartbreaking, and it had nearly broken him as he was forced to watch what the potion was doing to her.

Ginny's potion-induced state had seemed to swing wildly between being terrified of him dying and being terrified of him leaving her for another girl._ Did she really worry about that?_ Adam wondered. He'd never leave Ginny.

While attempting to comfort her, he'd blurted out that he loved her. He hadn't really thought about what he was saying at the time, it had just seemed to come out but, when he thought about it, Adam realised that it was true. He did love Ginny. He wasn't quite sure how he knew that he loved her with such certainty, but he just _knew_.

He wondered if Ginny would remember what he had said. He wasn't sure he could find the courage to tell her again anytime soon. _What if she didn't feel the same way? What if it scared her off?_

Finally having finished his breakfast, Adam stood up and, brushing his hand gently over Ginny's face to move a lock of her hair away from her eyes, he gathered his plate and cutlery and returned to the kitchen.

As moved back into the main part of the tent, he noticed the locket sitting on the table and realised with shock he hadn't actually examined it yet.

Gingerly, Adam approached the locket and picked it up. He expected to feel something, some sort of tingling maybe, but there was nothing. He fumbled quickly for the catch on the locket, it sprang open, and a piece of parchment flew out.

_This doesn't feel right,_ Adam thought, feeling a sinking feeling as he picked up the parchment and read it.

Once he had finished, he stared at the locket, completely appalled.

_It's not a Horcrux! Everything we've gone through, everything Ginny went through, was for nothing!_

Adam swore loudly and threw the locket violently across the tent.

_It's all been for nothing!_

**Ginny  
August 2nd 1997**

_She was standing in the Gryffindor common room, waiting for Adam to come back from his meeting with Professor Dumbledore. Eventually, after what felt like an age, the portrait hole burst opened and Adam entered the room. His eyes were puffy and red, but blazing with anger._

"What happened? What did Professor Dumbledore want?" Ginny questioned as she trotted towards him.

He glared at her with hatred.

Adam!_ Ginny cried, jumping backwards in shock._

"Leave me alone," Adam spat.

"What?" Ginny squeaked in horror.

Adam sneered at her. "I never want to see you again!"

_Her pushed her roughly and walked up the stairs to his room.  
_  
Don't go! _Ginny cried, choking back a sob as she dashed after him up the boy's staircase._

_"Ginny," a kindly disembodied voice that sounded almost like Adam seemed to echo reassuringly around her. "I'm here, but you have to. You told me to make sure you did. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry!" the disembodied voice said, somehow making Ginny feel safe and happy despite what Adam had just said._

She climbed the staircase and pushed open the door that led to Adam's room.  
  
_Then, quite suddenly, she was sitting in the grass at the Burrow looking out over the pond. Adam was sitting next to her. Much to her relief, he smiled at her._

Adam!_ Ginny cried with joy, not understanding what was going on._

Adam sighed. "I really don't know how to say this..."

She squeezed his hand.

"Do you remember the story you told me about how You-Know-Who was defeated?" Adam asked.

"Yeah," Ginny replied sounding confused. "He killed the Potters and somehow in the process he died. But what's that got to do with you?"

"Apparently..." Adam paused. "...I'm Harry Potter."

Ginny simply stared at him. "What?" she cried, gaping.

Adam nodded in reply and then smiled apologetically at her.

"Yeah," he began, hesitating slightly. "Well, now I know I'm Harry Potter," he laughed. "I'm far too important to spend time with people like you."

Adam, I know you're famous, but don't leave me!_ Ginny cried despairingly to herself._

He shrugged his shoulders and grinned mockingly at her. "So, well, bye!"

Ginny was speechless.

Adam stood up and walked back across the garden of the Burrow with a spring in his step.

"I won't leave you! I won't! I promise!" The kindly voice called to her again.

Almost as if the voice had given her a sudden surge of energy, Ginny stood up, and dashed after him. She pelted across the garden of the Burrow; she couldn't understand why, if he wasn't going to leave her, Adam was still walking away from her.

_"Ginny?" A voice behind her called, stopping her in her tracks._

Suddenly, she was back at Hogwarts, standing in a corridor.

When she heard Adam calling her name, she turned slowly around and raised her wand at him.  
  
_With a sudden sickening realisation, Ginny realised that Voldemort was possessing her. _Tom! Don't kill him! Take me! Don't make me...Don't kill.

_"Avada Kedavra!"  
_  
Noooooooooooooo!__

Ginny smiled as the green bolt struck the boy and he crumpled to the floor.

HARRRYYYY!

Then everything began to spin. It felt as if she was being sucked down a giant tube, her body being spun at ever-increasing speed.

Then she found herself in complete darkness. She felt strangely heavy. Then, after a period of time, she felt her eyes move and, after a brief struggle, she was able to crack them open. The sensations of her body returned to her in a rush, the bright light blinded her and she was forced to close her eyes again.

As she lay there she realised that her body _hurt_. It felt as if every single one of her muscles was ridiculously stretched and tight. Then, almost as one, they cramped.

"Ooooh... ahhh!" She moaned frantically, stretching out her body trying to rid herself of the pain that her cramping muscles were causing her.

As the pain receded, Ginny suddenly became aware of a second sensation. Her stomach was churning and it felt to her as if liquid was bubbling up the tube that led to her mouth, liquid that was trying desperately to escape.

_I'm going to be sick!_ She realised in alarm.

Hampered by her still protesting body, she was only able to turn and direct her head over the side of the bed before she vomited.

"Ahh!" another voice cried suddenly.

Ginny's eyes flew open and after several seconds of painful adjustment to the bright light, she gazed around the room.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed.

"Ginny!" Adam cried in response. He was sitting in a chair near her bed.

Ginny groaned loudly, and pressed her face down into the bed, feeling her cheeks burning. She had just been sick on the floor and all over Adam!

"Ginny," Adam said in a soft voice several seconds later, and she felt him put a hand on her shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

Ginny grumbled and painfully turned herself back around so she was facing upwards. Adam was looking down at her—his clothes rumpled and his black hair sticking up at all angles—with a concerned expression on his face.

"Awful," she said faintly, looking around at where she was for the first time. "Are..." she hesitated. "Are we back in the tent?"

"Yes, I Apparated us back," Adam replied. "How are you feeling?" he asked a second time.

"I'm okay," Ginny replied, now feeling slightly disorientated. _What had happened to make Adam so worried about her?_

She tried to lever herself up into a sitting position, but her arms immediately gave way. Instantly Adam was there, supporting her and moving her pillows so she could sit up comfortably.

"Why am I so sore?" she asked. "What happened?"

"Don't," Adam hesitated. "Don't you remember?"

Ginny paused for several seconds and wracked her memory. She remembered going to Ramsey Island. She remembered the incident with the double bed. She remembered the cave and then... the broom flight!

Ginny shivered suddenly. There was nothing after that. Apart from... she remembered Adam doing some things, but it was strange. Adam would never act like that!

"I, I remember," she began hesitantly. "I remember us flying across the water in the cave on a broom."

"And then?" Adam questioned earnestly.

Ginny shook her head. "Nothing."

"Oh," Adam replied, suddenly looking disappointed.

"What happened?" Ginny queried.

Adam told her how she had volunteered to drink this mysterious potion so they could retrieve the Horcrux and how it had made her very ill. He then began, haltingly, to tell her about the fight with the Inferi.

"So I was fighting?" Ginny asked, amazed. _How had she forgotten that?_

"Yes," Adam said, grinning suddenly. "You were awesome!"

"The potion," she asked uncertainly. "What did it do to me?"

"I, I," Adam hesitated, suddenly looking distressed. "I don't know. You kept crying out for me and saying things like..." He swallowed. "You kept saying that I was dead or I was going to leave you."

"Oh," Ginny replied flatly.

"It," Adam said. "It wasn't nice, but–" he stopped suddenly.

"I–" Ginny began hesitantly. "I remember all sorts of strange things, they were horrible, and you were horrible... I know it wasn't you, but at the time it didn't even occur to me that it wasn't really happening," she finished in exasperation. "It was ... it was like the dreams I had in my second year. I was there, but I was only watching. I couldn't control my body..."

"You don't remember anything you said, or–" he hesitated, "—anything I said?"

"I don't really remember. I can remember a voice telling me everything would be all right and that the things that were happening weren't real and you wouldn't really leave me," she replied with a blush. "Was that you?"

"I think so," Adam replied, with a strange expression on his face. "Do you remember anything else?"

"No," Ginny replied, shaking her head.

"Oh," Adam replied, quietly. Then he shook himself. "It doesn't matter, you're here now. You're fine."

"Yeah," Ginny replied, with a grin. "So we got it, then? The first Horcrux?"

Suddenly, Adam's face clouded and he stood up and paced across the room.

"No," he replied darkly. "We didn't."

"What happened!" Ginny exclaimed.

"It was a fake," Adam growled. "You got hurt for nothing!"

"A fake!"

"Someone beat us to it, someone called R.A.B. They left a fake locket with a note inside it. Whoever R.A.B is took the Horcrux," Adam spat out angrily.

"Who is R.A.B?" Ginny questioned. "I didn't think anyone else knew!"

"I've no idea," Adam replied, with a shrug. "You can read the note. He said he was going to try to destroy it, but ..."

"We need to make sure he actually did," Ginny finished.

"Yeah," Adam replied, finally sitting back down on the chair.

"So what do we do now?" Ginny questioned.

"I..." Adam hesitated. "The first thing is to get you well. While you're recovering we'll make a plan."

Ginny nodded and the two of them sat there in silence for several minutes.

"Adam," Ginny ventured eventually. "I'm going to need you to help me out of bed please."

"Why? You need to stay in bed." Adam questioned.

Ginny rolled her eyes at him. "I need to pee."

Adam blushed and dashed over to help her up.

**August 3rd 1997  
**  
_Adam and Ginny entered the room where the party was taking place. There was a long table in the centre of the room, which was set for dinner. There were several other well-dressed people in the room, many of whom were clustered around a second long table that was situated against one wall._

"Come on," Ginny said nervously. "I think we get a drink over there."

They reached the table that was serving as a bar, only to be confronted with several large decanters and bowls containing various beverages. Ginny saw Adam looking uncertainly at them.

Adam reached over and poured both of them a glass, and with their drinks in hand they strolled away from the table.

"Come on!" Ginny exclaimed grabbing Adam's hand.

"What?" Adam asked.

"That's Gwenog Jones!" Ginny exclaimed, dragging him over to her.

"Hi!" Ginny exclaimed once they got near, she could barely contain her excitement.

Gwenog turned around and stared at Adam.

"Hi," she said smiling wickedly. "You must be Mr. Potter. Horace told me you would be here. I'm Gwenog Jones."

"Hi," Adam replied, beaming.

Adam..._ Ginny began to feel uneasy as Adam nudged her to one side and moved closer to Gwenog.  
_  
_He then stepped forward and kissed her on the lips. The two of them linked arms and then turned to face Ginny._

Please, don't..._ Ginny thought pathetically, as she realised what was happening._

Adam grinned at Gwenog. "Good," he said smiling. "I've been waiting for an opportunity to get rid of this one," he said gesturing to Ginny. "Been holding me back for far too long."

I know you're famous, but I can be a better girlfriend. I promise I will!_ Ginny despaired as she realised Adam was going to leave her. Then her thoughts turned to anger. How could he? How dare he?_

"I mean," Adam said derisively. "She just so poor."

"I'm not going to leave you!" The kindly voice said strongly from nowhere, seemingly causing Ginny's anger to flow away, but still leaving her with a deep hollowing sense of despair.

Don't lie! Don't lie! You will... You will... _Ginny moaned silently in response, as she watched Adam and Gwenog groping each other._

"Ginny, I won't," the voice said, far more confidently this time. "I love you. I'm always going to be with you!"

She suddenly felt light-headed, and before she could steady herself, Ginny fell to the floor with a thud.

When she came to she was lying in bed. She leapt out of bed, dashed out onto the landing and descended the stairs until she reached the hallway. She was in Grimmauld place. Ginny peered in through the door to the dining room. There was a crowd of people in the room. The centre of attention was the person that was lying on the table in the middle of the room with Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey standing over them.

She could see Remus sitting in a chair with his head in his hands. Tonks had her arms around him and appeared to be comforting him. Others were standing around the room watching what was going on, but generally trying to stay out of the way. She spotted Bill standing alone in one corner of the room.

Ginny tried to absorb what was going on it, but it was difficult without revealing herself. If anyone saw that she was there, she would get sent straight back to bed.

Suddenly Madam Pomfrey moved away from the table and Ginny got her first glimpse of the person lying there. It was a black-haired boy; he was laying on the table, his eyes staring sightlessly into space.

No, no, no, no, no, no, you can't be gone._ Ginny cried as she suddenly realised that he wasn't breathing._

"I'm here! I'm here! Please..." the voice said, reassuring her, but Ginny could hardly hear it. She couldn't take her eyes off the body.

"Come in, Miss Weasley," Professor Dumbledore said from inside the room.

She stepped timidly into the room.

"I'm very sorry, but Adam died," he said.  
  
You can't be gone. He can't have killed you! _Adam wasn't supposed to die. Dumbledore was supposed to protect him. How could this be happening?_

Ginny felt tears welling in her eyes as she looked at Adam's body.

Then the entire room erupted in laughter and Ginny once more fell to the floor.  
  
_Then images began to spin past her in rapid succession. Scene after scene of horror. She saw Adam lying dead on the floor of the Chamber of Secrets; poisoned by the Basilisk. She saw him fall off his broom, dropping hundreds of feet to the ground where he landed with a sickening crunch and lay still. She saw him by her side as they dodged the flailing branches of the Whomping Willow, only to be impaled by a branch and fall to the floor, his clothes rapidly becoming stained with blood._

_Faster and faster the visions came, until, just as Ginny thought she couldn't take it anymore, they stopped._

She came back to consciousness in a rush of sensation. Her body spasmed and she felt panic surge through her. Someone was holding her down! Her arms lashed out, as she tried vainly to free herself from her captor.

"Ginny!" Adam's voice exclaimed. "Calm down! It's me! It's me!"

Realising it was Adam, Ginny instantly forced her body to relax. She opened her eyes and saw Adam above her, looking down at her with a concerned look on his face.

"I–I," she hesitated. "I'm okay."

Adam face broke into a grin.

"I think," she began faintly. "I think there must still be some of that potion in my system."

"Oh, Ginny," Adam said, drawing her into a hug. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this."

"It's fine," Ginny replied with a weak smile. "It was only the same old paranoid fantasies..." she trailed off, suddenly feeling rather pathetic.

Adam held her even tighter. "I'm not going to leave you!" he reassured her.

Ginny smiled. "You said that in the cave, didn't you?"

"I did," Adam replied simply.

Ginny felt Adam adjusting his position and she was soon sitting on his lap as he sat on the bed.

They sat there in silence for several minutes, Ginny simply enjoying the feel of Adam's arms around her.

"So it was you..." she began softly. "The voice I could hear," she hesitated, her mind drifting back over the dreams she'd had. "I think I'm having flashbacks in my dreams of what happened in the cave, at least of the effects of the potion."

"Yeah, I think you are," Adam began hesitantly.

Ginny suddenly gasped.

"Adam," she began nervously, with a quaver in her voice. "Did you mean what you said in the cave?"

"What do you mean?" Adam asked, looking worried.

"That–" She swallowed. "That you–" her voice lowered to a whisper, "love me."

Adam stared at her for a second.

"Maybe, it wasn't you!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly, hating the uncomfortable silence that had suddenly sprung up and realising that she had probably just made a massive mistake. "Don't worry about it! It was probably just my dream."

"Ginny," Adam whispered, "I did say that," he hesitated. "And I did mean it."

Ginny froze for a split second, before swivelling in his lap and throwing her arms around him.

"Oh, Adam!" She said, struggling to control the emotion in her voice. "I love you, too!"

Almost before she had finished speaking she felt Adam's mouth on hers and they kissed. When they broke apart, they were both lying on the bed, with Ginny curled up against Adam's chest smiling up at him.

"I love you, Ginny," Adam said, grinning down at her.

Ginny beamed back at him. "I love you, Adam."

They laid together for some time, enjoying each other's company, but Ginny soon found herself beginning to fidget. She had spent the last few days in bed and, as nice as it was to have Adam in bed with her, she wanted to be up and about!

"I'm going to get up for a bit," she said to Adam, giving him another kiss.

"What do you need?" Adam asked. "I'll get it for you. You should stay in bed."

"Adam," Ginny replied. "I'm fine, I just want to have a walk around. I've been stuck in bed for three days!"

"Okay," Adam said, sounding worried.

Ginny extracted herself from Adam's lap and gingerly got out of bed. Adam was immediately by her side, and he grabbed hold of her arm.

"I can walk myself!" Ginny snapped at him, and she shook off Adam's hold.

Ginny managed to walk as far as the living area of the tent, before one of her legs suddenly cramped up and she nearly lost her balance. Before she could fall, Adam was at her side to support and help her to the nearby sofa.

"Thanks," she said with a smile. "I guess I'm still a bit weak."

"It's all right," Adam said, easing her down into the sofa and sitting next to her.

Ginny lay back on the sofa and sighed. "So," she began. "Can I get a look at the locket that we went to all the trouble for?"

**August 11th 1997**

A noise from outside the tent flap that served as her bedroom door woke her far earlier than normal, so Ginny lay still in bed for several seconds. It almost sounded as if someone was sneaking around outside, trying not to be heard.

Sitting up, Ginny grabbed her wand, shuffled to the flap and looked out into the living area of the tent.

What she saw made her break out into a wide grin. Lowering her wand, she moved forward and made her way across the tent.

"Boo!" She shouted once she was near the centre of the room.

"Oh!" Adam exclaimed and visibly jumped from where he was cautiously putting candles on a cake

He spun around and looked at her, and his face fell. "You're not supposed to be awake yet," he said softly. "This was supposed to be a surprise."

Ginny didn't answer. Instead she leaned forward and kissed him.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed brightly.

"Happy Birthday!" Adam said, grinning back at her. "Sixteen at last!"

"Yep," Ginny replied smugly.

"Okay," Adam said brightly. "You sit down, while I cut the cake."

"Cake," Ginny said, winking at him. "For _breakfast_?"

"Well," Adam replied. "I knew I'd never be able to hide it from you all day. You'd suss that I was up to something and be poking around looking for it."

"True," Ginny replied. "Well, I guess cake is okay for breakfast. Shall we add that to the list of things we never tell Mum about?"

Adam sighed dramatically. "That list is getting so long."

Ginny couldn't help but giggle in response.

Several minutes later, after Adam had lit and Ginny had blown out her candles, the two of them were sitting side by side, both munching on a large piece of cake.

"So..." Ginny began between mouthfuls of cake, "now that I'm all better. What do we do next?"

Adam was silent for several seconds. "Are you sure you're alright?" He hesitated. "Maybe you should rest up for just a while longer?"

"I'm fine," Ginny said emphatically in response.

"You still get tired after just a few hours of walking around the tent!"

"I can still help!" Ginny argued in return.

"I know," Adam replied. "And I need your help, but I think we should just wait until you're better before we make our next move."

Ginny sighed. She knew deep down that he was right. If hunting for the other Horcruxes landed them in anything anywhere near as bad as the cave they would both need to be at their best.

"Okay, so we wait," she paused. "A while, but what next?"

"Check out the rest of the places. The Riddle house, the orphanage, Hogwarts, if we can, and," Adam shuddered slightly. "Godric's Hollow," he paused. "We need to track down whoever R.A.B is, to see if he did actually destroy the Horcrux from the cave."

"Okay. So which one next?"

"Well," Adam responded. "I guess the Riddle house, but I think it's unlikely he left anything there. All I know about the orphanage is what I saw in Dumbledore's memories; I know its name but I don't even know where it is," he sighed. "Anyway we can hardly just wander into Hogwarts...The cave was our best lead, Dumbledore's really left us in a mess. If he was wrong in his other 'guesses' then we're done for... We've lost."

"Adam," Ginny said, pulling him into a hug. "Love," she paused. "We can do this. You can do this. Dumbledore left us enough clues. We can beat Tom." Ginny leaned in and kissed him. "I know we can."

**August 20th 1997**

Ginny tucked her long blonde hair behind her ear and out of her eyes, as she pushed through the door to Weasley Wizard Wheezes. The twins' shop was relatively busy, with several people in the shop buying various different pranks and other joke products.

Ginny had, after much persuasion, convinced Adam to come to Diagon Alley so that they could check on current events and also get a message that they were okay to the twins. It had been nearly a month since either of them had set foot in a wizarding location.

When they'd arrived in Diagon Alley, they had been shocked at how normal everything seemed. Voldemort had apparently done an excellent job of convincing the wizarding population that everything was normal.

Ginny wandered around the shop, looking at various items and keeping her eyes peeled for an opportunity to approach one of her brothers. Currently, both were occupied at the counter manning the till.

Deciding to wait until the queue died down, Ginny busied herself looking around the Wonder Witch section. She felt a stab of guilt when she looked at the Pygmy Puffs. She'd had to leave hers at the Burrow. She hoped her mum was taking care of him.

"May I help you, miss," Fred's voice suddenly came from behind her, as she was looking through the twins' selection of magical make-up.

Ginny jumped slightly and turned to look at him.

He winked at her. "We've been so busy recently. Even had some Ministry types in."

Ginny's eyes widened. _Is Fred trying to tell me I'm being watched,_ she thought in panic.

"Were you interested in the Wonder Witch range?"

Ginny nodded numbly.

"Well," Fred continued smoothly. "Here is some information about our products."

He rapidly placed a piece of folded parchment in her hand. She quickly pocketed it in her jeans.

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley," she replied, doing her best to keep her voice in control and sounding like she didn't know Fred. "I guess I'll have to take this away and look it over."

"Very good, Miss," Fred said, his voice quavering slightly. "You take care of yourself."

Fred paused, for a second and then walked back towards the counter. As he left, Ginny forced herself to wait. Deciding that if they were watching her, and she dashed out, it would attract suspicion.

Eventually, Ginny left the shop, walking at a deliberate slow pace. Once outside, she walked calmly back up the Alley towards the Leaky Cauldron hoping that Adam, who had been hiding under the cloak outside of the shop, was following her.

Once they reached their agreed meeting point back in a park in Muggle London, Ginny sank tiredly onto the bench and Adam soon joined her.

"What happened?" He blurted immediately. "You don't look too good."

"Just had a bit of a fright," Ginny replied, taking his hand. "Fred warned me off. The shop was being watched. He gave me this though."

Ginny pulled out the note and spread it on her lap so they could both read.

_The Ministry is attempting to round up all Muggle-borns when they come for the Hogwarts Express. Muggle-borns are all to be charged with stealing their magic._

Please warn Hermione. We are all being watched.

The writing was scrawled untidily on the parchment. Fred had obviously written it in a rush. Below the note was Hermione's address.

"We need to warn her," Ginny said instantly.

Adam nodded immediately.

"I suppose it's too much to ask that the Order could have tried to warn people," Adam responded bitterly. "Probably still too busy hunting for me."

Ginny nodded. Despite all the meetings they seemed to have, the Order never really seemed to achieve much. Even under Dumbledore.

"We can't help all the Muggle-borns, but we need to help Hermione. She's our friend."

Adam nodded firmly. "Let's go right now."

**Adam  
August 20th 1997**

It was late evening by the time they arrived at Hermione's house. They had been able to Apparate some of the way, but as neither of them had ever been to Hermione's house before, they had to make the final leg of the journey in a Muggle taxi.

They got out of the taxi about fifteen minutes walk from Hermione's house, just in case the house was being watched. Ginny kept her hair blonde and Adam coloured his red, much to Ginny's amusement.

The two of them approached Hermione's house and knocked on the door.

Hermione answered the door.

"Hello?" She said.

"Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed.

Hermione looked at Ginny, and then back at Adam. After her few seconds her eyes widened.

"Come in!" she exclaimed, ushering them inside the house and into the living room.

Adam looked around Hermione's open plan living room and kitchen. The room was nicely decorated with family pictures on the walls and mantelpiece. It looked homely.

"What are you guys doing here?" Hermione exclaimed.

"We had to warn you," Ginny replied.

"Hello? Warn Hermione about what?" a voice came from the doorway.

Adam spun around and saw a woman standing in the doorway.

"Mum!" Hermione exclaimed, looking slightly flustered. "These are two of my friends from Hogwarts."

"Oh, hello," Hermione's mum replied. "I didn't realise you'd be stopping by."

"Oh, we were only passing, Mrs. Granger," Adam replied. "We needed to warn Hermione," Adam hesitated. "Well, all of you really."

"What's happened?" Hermione replied.

They were both silent for a second, while Adam figured out the best way to tell Hermione that the Ministry no longer wanted her in the wizarding world and would arrest her simply because of who she was.

"Adam?" Ginny prompted.

As soon as Ginny said his name, Adam saw Hermione's mum tense out of the corner of his eye.

"You..." she began. "You're Adam Winters?"

Adam hesitated. "Yeah..."

"You're a criminal!"

"NO! Mum!" Hermione shrieked. "Where did you hear that?"

"I..." Mrs Granger began. "I... I read it in that paper of yours."

"The Daily Prophet has printed nothing but lies about me," Adam replied angrily.

"Mum, he's my friend, he's been framed. I trust him completely," Hermione added.

"All right," Hermione's mum replied, still looking hesitant. "If you're sure, Hermione?"

"I am," Hermione replied.

"Good," Mrs Granger replied. "So you're Adam, and you're...?"

"Ginny," Ginny replied.

"Oh my," Hermione's mum exclaimed.

"Did you see my name in the Prophet as well?" Ginny asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Yes," Hermione's mum replied. "I'm sorry," she paused, looking over at Hermione. "Would you like to sit down and tell us what you came to warn Hermione about?"

The four of them sat down in the living room.

"Hermione," Adam began. "Do you know what's been happening at the Ministry?"

"No," Hermione began. "When they put out a wanted posted for you, Ginny, I suspected that the Death Eaters were taking over, but no one's written to me, not Ron or Neville."

"Well, they have taken over," Ginny said gravely. "They even control the Minister. We were warned by the twins that they are planning to round up all the Muggle-borns when they go back to Hogwarts, as they have apparently 'Stolen their magic'."

"What!" Hermione shrieked. "That's ludicrous."

"I know," Adam replied.

"So..." Hermione continued, her voice shaking a little. "I can't go back to school?"

"No," Adam added flatly. "Stay away from the Wizarding world all together."

"Why are they doing this?" Hermione's mum asked in a panicked voice. "What's to stop them just coming here?"

"They're doing it because they believe Muggle-borns have dirty blood and don't deserve to be wizards," Hermione explained. "And," she continued hesitantly, "I suppose there's nothing to stop them from coming here."

"I expect," Adam continued, "once they realise you haven't come back to school they will come here to find you."

Hermione's mum was by this point looking terrified. "So they'll really come and take Hermione just because we're not wizards?"

Adam nodded gravely. "If you have any relatives you can go and hide at, or take a holiday or something, get away from here before September first."

"O-Okay," Hermione said. "Mum?"

They were all silent for several minutes.

"If that's what we need to do to keep you safe..." Hermione's mum began uncertainly. "Then that's what we'll have to do."

"Mum," Hermione said, in a shocked tone. "What about the practice!"

"You're more important," Mrs Granger replied, silencing Hermione's protests.

"I can't see any other options," Adam added glumly. "I would be careful about how you disappear, just in case you're being watched."

"I think," Hermione began, after a short pause. "That we should pretend that we're going to Kings Cross on the first, but just go somewhere else. That way if they are watching the house, they'll think we're going to the station."

"Good idea," Adam answered.

"I guess neither of you will be going back to Hogwarts either?" Hermione asked.

"No," Ginny replied with a short laugh. "We're both wanted criminals."

"Dumbledore left us with a job to do," Adam added.

"Oh?" Hermione began. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Hermione..." her mother began.

"Mum, the Wizarding world wants to persecute me just because of who I am!" she exclaimed. "I'm going to do everything I can to help!" She paused. "Harry, what can I do to help?"

"Harry?" Hermione's mum exclaimed. "Who is Harry?"

Adam sighed, and to his slight annoyance Ginny giggled.

"I'm Harry," Adam answered. "Long story..."

"Adam," Ginny began. "Hermione could help us out with some research... with the orphanage."

"Brilliant," Adam replied. "Have you some parchment? Or a pen and paper?"

Hermione jumped up off the chair and dashed over to the kitchen, soon returning with a pen and paper.

Adam wrote down on the sheet the name of the orphanage that Voldemort had grown up in and handed it back to Hermione.

"That's the name of an orphanage that was somewhere in London," Adam told her. "Could you try and find out where exactly it is for us?"

"Sure," Hermione replied. "I can go to the library in town and try to look that up. If not I could always Apparate to the bigger library in London."

"Brilliant," Adam replied. "Can I have your phone number, then I can ring you. We probably shouldn't come back. If you're seen helping us..." he trailed off.

"Sure," Hermione said, writing her number on another piece of paper and passing it to Adam.

"Will you two stay for tea?" Hermione's mum added, slightly timidly. "Or do you need anything? After giving us this warning, I feel we should..."

"No thanks, Mrs. Granger," Adam replied. "We should go. The longer we're here the more danger we put you in."

"Whatever you think is best," she replied uncertainly. Then she asked again, "There's nothing I can do for you?"

"No thanks," Ginny replied with a smile. "We're managing fine on our own."

"Could we Apparate straight from here though?" Adam asked, standing up from his chair. "Less chance of someone spotting us."

Adam saw Mrs Granger look towards Hermione.

"Sure," Hermione replied.

"We'll keep in touch as best we can," Ginny said. "Bye, Hermione."

"Bye, guys," Hermione said, standing up and hugging Adam and then Ginny.

"Good bye, both of you," Hermione's mother said from her chair. "And thanks for warning us."

With a wave, Adam clasped Ginny's arm firmly and then, turning on the spot, they Disapparated back to their tent.


	7. Chapter 6

**Adam  
August 23rd 1997**

Adam and Ginny, once again heavily disguised, walked down the country lane that led into Little Hangleton.

Now that Ginny was well again, Adam didn't want to waste any time. So, while they waited to see if Hermione found any information about the Orphanage, Adam and Ginny had decided to check out the one other relatively easy lead they had. The Riddle House.

Adam had Apparated to the same lane that Professor Dumbledore had brought him to the night he'd died. From there, Adam and Ginny then walked into the village.

Upon reaching the small cluster of houses, they walked in silence through the village, eventually reaching the track that led up to the Riddle House. There Adam paused, staring up at the house.

"Are you okay?" Ginny asked, giving his hand a squeeze.

"Yeah," Adam replied. "I'll be alright. I don't really remember much about the house other than the room." He shuddered. "Come on, let's check it out then we can get out of here."

The Riddle house itself was dilapidated, the majority of the windows were smashed and the first door they found was hanging off its hinges.

Pushing through the door, Adam and Ginny made their way into the house. They started on the top floor and began working their way down, searching each room in turn. The house seemed completely deserted, with only a few rooms showing any signs of recent occupation and even these looked like they had been empty for months.

"I don't know why we're even bothering!" Adam suddenly exclaimed in frustration, once they had finished searching as far down as the first floor. "There's nothing here! If he's hidden it we'll never find it anyway!"

"We both..." Ginny hesitated. "We both felt something at the cave, didn't we?"

"Yes," Adam replied. "But there was no Horcrux there!"

"Exactly," Ginny continued. "So I reckon we were either sensing that the Horcrux used to be there, or more likely the strong magical protections around it."

"I don't feel anything here yet," Adam replied slowly. "So that means there isn't anything here..."

"So far at least," Ginny replied. "We still need to search the ground floor."

Adam smiled at Ginny. "Thanks," he said. "You always know what to say, when I get all..."

"Moody?" Ginny answered, sticking her tongue out. "I understand you, love," Ginny replied, pulling him closer. "You've got a lot on your shoulders; it's alright to get angry sometimes."

"Thanks," Adam said again. "Let's check the ground floor then get out of here."

They continued to search the ground floor. Eventually, they found one doorway that led down to a cellar.

"It's down here," Adam blurted in a dull voice as he stared down a set of stone steps.

"You feel something?" Ginny asked urgently.

"No," Adam shook his head. "The room."

"Okay, I'll go down and check then," Ginny said. "You stay here."

"No," Adam replied. He wasn't about to allow Ginny down there on her own. "We'll go together."

The two of them descended the stone steps and soon found themselves in a large stone room, with several doors leading off it. They checked the large room and each door in turn. Each time they found nothing. At ever door that they opened, Adam heaved a sigh of relief that it wasn't _his_ room.

By the time they stood outside the last door, Adam realised that this must be his room. Gingerly, he put his hand on the handle and pulled the door open.

Inside was a completely bare stone room. He recognised it, having been intimately familiar with for it for several weeks.

"Oh, Adam," Ginny exclaimed, wrinkling her nose against the smell of the room. "They kept you in here?"

"Yeah..." Adam replied softly. "It was alright..."

"No it wasn't!" Ginny cried. Adam could hear her voice quavering. "They tortured you in here!" She paused. "There's no window! And it smells!"

"I..." Adam replied hesitantly. "I only had a bucket."

"Oh, Adam..."

Adam stared at his old prison for a second, before pushing Ginny back out of the room and slamming the door closed.

"There's nothing in this house," he said. "Come on, let's get out of here."

**Ginny  
August 27th 1997**

It had been a week since their visit to Hermione's house, and Ginny and Adam were huddled together in the phone box near the tent, hoping that Hermione would have a lead on where the Orphanage was.

"So you had to go to the library in London?" Adam was speaking into the phone. "But you found it!" Adam exclaimed. "Brilliant!"

He was silent for several seconds while Hermione talked.

"Oh..." he said his voice suddenly think with disappointment. "Over ten years ago?"

There was more silence, and Ginny could faintly make out Hermione's voice through the phone.

"Well, thank you for trying anyway," Adam replied. "Be safe, Hermione."

Ginny started to push the door to the phone box open, assuming the conversation was about to finish, but Adam did not put the phone down and she could hear Hermione speaking again.

"That was a big risk, Hermione," Adam continued. "Okay," he paused again. "I still think you should stick to the plan. They shouldn't stop you if they think you're going to King's Cross," he paused while Hermione spoke. "Okay, bye then and good luck."

Adam put the phone down and the two of them quickly left the phone box and returned to the tent in silence. At this time of the day there were normally Muggles working in some of the buildings in the industrial area, and it wouldn't do for them to overhear their conversation.

"What happened?" Ginny demanded, once they reached the tent.

"She found the Orphanage," Adam began. "But it's been demolished and built over. It's been gone for ten years."

"Oh," Ginny replied flatly, fighting down her disappointment. Yet another dead end.

"She also thinks someone is watching her house," Adam continued. "So I told her just to stick to the plan. If they think she's going to King's Cross I hope they'll let her go. She also managed to phone some other Muggle-borns... mainly other Gryffindors but..." Adam shrugged.

"That's great!" Ginny exclaimed. "The more people that escape the better!"

"I just wish we could have done more..." Adam added softly.

"We can't, Adam," Ginny responded. "We don't even know where any of the other Muggle-borns live...plus if we're seen helping them..." she paused, both of them knew what could happen to anyone they helped. "So..." Ginny ventured. "What now?"

"We have to keep going," Adam said, not sounding very confident at all. "Keep checking the locations, look for R.A.B. We have to do something."

"Where next?" Ginny asked.

He paused for a minute, then suddenly threw his hands in the air in frustration. "I don't know! Everything we know is based on guesses!"

"It's okay, Adam." Ginny replied, moving forward and hugging him. "We'll figure it out. Let's have a rest and then start planning our next move."

**Ron  
September 1st 1997**

For the first time in his seven years of school, Ron felt scared as he walked towards the barrier onto platform nine and three quarters.

After much discussion, and yet another visit to the house by Yaxley, his mum and dad had decided that he should return to Hogwarts. Ron knew it had been a very difficult decision for them; he'd heard them up late at night arguing about it.

As he pushed his trolley through King's Cross, Ron kept his eyes peeled, hoping against hope that he wouldn't see Hermione and if he did, that he would be able to warn her so she could leave before she got caught.

As he dived through the barrier with his trolley, Ron continued to look around. The atmosphere on the platform was different this year, gone was the excitement of leaving for Hogwarts. Now it seemed to be a chore, something that had to be done, but no one really wanted to do.

After kissing his mother good-bye, Ron hefted his trunk onto the train and climbed aboard. He still had not seen anyone he knew, but, just to make sure, he took a wander up and down the train and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw no sign of Hermione.

Once the train began to pull away, Ron realised he was supposed to be at the Prefect's meeting. Normally, Hermione dragged him along as soon as they got on board, but today there was no Hermione, and he had nearly forgotten about the meeting.

Tiredly, Ron made his way to Prefect's compartment. When he entered, he very nearly walked straight back out again when he saw Malfoy and Parkinson strutting around.

"Ah, Weasel," Malfoy sneered as he entered. "I guess we can't blame you for being late, probably can't afford a watch."

"Malfoy!" Ron spat back.

"Sit down, Weasel," Malfoy drawled. "I have a meeting to run."

Ron slumped down in the closest possible seat, his dad's instructions to him running through his head. _Keep your head down, don't attract attention to yourself_.

"As I was saying," Malfoy was speaking again. "Pansy and I have been appointed Head Boy and Girl. _We_ received personal communications from the school this morning."

That pretty much confirmed Ron's worst fears. Either McGonagall hadn't been made Headmistress, or the Ministry had chosen the Head Boy and Girl. There was no way Professor McGonagall would allow Draco Malfoy to become Head Boy.

He glanced around the compartment. The Slytherin prefects were looking very pleased with themselves, while the Prefects from the rest of the houses were looking horrified.

It was only then that Ron noticed there were far fewer prefects than normal in the compartment. There were no new fifth year prefects and he and Demelza Robins were the only two from Gryffindor. Colin Creevey, the boy's Prefect in Adam's year, was Muggle-born so he was not present, and obviously Hermione too had been forced to stay away.

Ron hoped that Colin had also been able to escape and hadn't been captured by the Ministry, just for being Muggle-born.

"Now," Draco Malfoy began again. "The new Prefects will be appointed by the new Headmaster once we arrive at school. On the train the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Prefects will patrol. Slytherin's can have a well earned break."

There was much unhappy muttering at this, but no one seemed to want to speak up against Malfoy.

_I'm going to keep my head down,_ Ron silently chanted to himself. _I'm not going to confront him over this._

"What are you waiting for?" Malfoy snapped. "Get to it!"

As Ron got up and made his way towards the compartment door, Malfoy sauntered over to him.

"Oi, Weasel," Malfoy said as way of introduction. "I'll be watching you. Don't think you'll get away with having a murderer for a sister."

"Ginny isn't a murderer!" Ron spat in return.

Malfoy merely smirked at him. "That's not what the Ministry says. She's almost as bad as that Winters kid. I mean, Weasel, I know you're poor but surely your father could have sold her off to better stock than _that_. Or is he a dim wit now as well as a Muggle lover?"

Ron felt himself flushing as blood shot to his face. He reached for his wand.

"Go on, Weasel," Malfoy taunted.

It took ever ounce of self-control that Ron had not hex or punch Malfoy there and then.

_I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to risk my family's safety for Malfoy. _

Ron knew that the Ministry would use any excuse to throw any of his family in jail. It would be the death of his mum if he disappeared too.

Moving his hand away from his wand, Ron turned and walked away from Malfoy. Perhaps he could find Neville or... He froze, realising that Dean Thomas was Muggle-born so he wouldn't be at school. It would only be him, Neville and Seamus in the room this year. Well, if he could find either of them he could perhaps pass the journey in better company.

Ron rode the rest of the way in a compartment with Neville, periodically emerging to half-heartedly patrol the train. Eventaully, they arrived at Hogwarts and, as they did every year, they climbed into a carriage and rode up to the school.

Everything seemed the same as it always was, except that there were far fewer students. It was amazing how many Muggle-borns were actually at Hogwarts. Ron fervently hoped they hadn't all been caught and imprisoned.

As Ron entered the Great Hall and took his seat at the Gryffindor table, he looked up at the staff table. Much to his relief, the faces sitting at the table all seemed to be familiar. He could see Professor Flitwick and Hagrid. As he watched the professors talking between themselves, Ron noticed that Hagrid seemed to be cradling his left arm. _Had Hagrid been injured somehow?_

However, even though he could see some familiar faces sitting at the staff table, there were many empty places. There was no sign of Professor McGonagall but she, presumably, would be guiding the first years. Also missing was Professor Snape and the chairs that normally housed the Defence Against the Dark Arts and Muggle studies professors were also empty. _Well,_ Ron thought grimly. _At least there's no Umbridge._

The most notable absence was that of Professor Dumbledore. The large chair, which he had occupied at the opening feast for every year that Ron had been at school, was currently empty.

_Who is the new Headmaster?_ Ron wondered to himself, as he gazed at the chair.

By the time Professor McGonagall led the much shorter line of first years into the Great Hall, there was still no sign of the Headmaster. Even so, she didn't wait for him and much to Ron's surprise she carried on with the Sorting, but this year there was no song from the hat.

Once the Sorting had finished, Professor McGonagall returned to her usual seat and sat down. The hall waited in uneasy silence for something, anything to happen.

Then, the doors to the Great Hall slammed open, and Professor Snape strode up the length of the hall, his block cloak billowing behind. He was followed by two other figures in dark cloaks. There was one man and one woman. They both seemed to be related, both were short and broad, sharing similar facial features and black hair.

_No_, Ron thought despairingly as Snape made his way towards the staff table. _Please no!_

As Ron had feared, Snape stopped in front of the Headmaster's chair and the two cloaked figures sat down on other chairs at the staff table. Ron couldn't help but notice the looks that the other professors were giving the two newcomers.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts," Snape began speaking, he voice echoing over the hall. "This year we celebrate the dawn of a new era. This year we will focus on learning what you need to know to take your place in Wizarding society, a society that our Ministry of Magic is crafting at this very minute," he paused. "My name is Professor Snape, and I am the new Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Applause sounded from the Slytherin table, but the rest of the hall remained silent.

Snape held up his hand, and the applause ceased. "There are many changes this year to our staff and curriculum. Firstly, it is my pleasure to announce that the Muggle Studies and Defence Against the Dark Arts courses have been cancelled. Secondly, allow me to introduce the new Deputy Heads: Alecto and Amycus Carrow. They will be teaching Potions and our new course, Dark Arts, respectively." He paused once again, as if gauging the reaction from the students. "Finally, in line with our new era and to enable you to focus on your studies there will be no Hogsmeade visits or Quidditch Cup this year."

This announcement met with stunned silence from the assembled students. Even the Slytherins appeared shocked.

As he listened to the rest of the announcements, Ron felt the worry he had been feeling all day turn to fear. He was fairly sure the Carrows were both Death Eaters. Snape was Headmaster, Death Eaters were teaching two classes and there was no Quidditch.

You-Know-Who had taken control of Hogwarts.

**September 3rd 1997**

Despite his fears, up until now, the first two days of the new term had been fine.

However, as Ron left his first Dark Arts lesson, he felt dirty. The lesson had been taught by Amycus Carrow and, even though he hadn't seen any sign of the Dark Mark, he was now absolutely certain that he was a Death Eater. No one else, except perhaps Snape, could talk about curses with such joy.

In addition to Carrow being a Death Eater, he also couldn't teach. The lesson had consisted of them copying down a list of curses and then watching demonstrations of them. Carrow had told them about curses that Ron had never even heard of before. Sure, he knew about the Unforgivable Curses, but he had no idea there was a curses specifically designed to break bones, reverse your knee, and, apparently, there was even one that allowed the caster to cut off the blood supply to various major organs.

Ron didn't know what he was going to do when Carrow tried to make them practice those curses, there was no way he could use them on another person. They were just horrible.

Once the lesson had finished, Ron and Neville trudged down to dinner, gobbled it up and retreated to the safety of Gryffindor Tower. At least the Slytherins couldn't taunt them in here, and he didn't think any of the Professors, other than McGonagall, could get in. While they were in Gryffindor Tower they were safe... at least for now.

It appeared that the rest of the Gryffindors had the same idea as Ron. Even though it was a warm autumn night, it seemed as if the entirety of Gryffindor was in the common room. It was heaving, with students sitting around in small groups talking or working on early pieces of homework.

There were to be no shows of exuberance this year.

Ron grabbed one of his school books, squeezed onto one of the sofas with Neville and Seamus and started reading through the passage he'd been assigned. Before long, he looked up and stared across the common room. It just wasn't the same without Hermione... or Ginny or Adam or Dean... Ron sighed and returned to his reading.

Before long, he was disturbed again, this time by Professor McGonagall sweeping into the room.

"I need all the Gryffindors in here, immediately," she ordered in a brisk tone.

At Professor McGonagall's instructions, several Prefects dashed up the stairs and, eventually, the few students that had been up in their bedrooms trickled down into the common room.

"I expect all of you have realised that many things are different this year. Hogwarts is no longer the same school it was under Professor Dumbledore. With Snape as Headmaster things have changed," Professor McGonagall paused for what seemed an age before she continued. "There is little doubt now that Professor Snape has allowed agents of You-Know-Who to become teachers at the school and I must warn you all to be careful around them." Her voice lowered. "I am certain they will not attack you without provocation, but should you break the rules or anger them, then they will not follow the standard disciplinary practices that you will have been used to."

At McGonagall's announcement the occupants of the common room burst out into frantic whisperers. Ron could see many of the younger children looking pale and scared.

"Quiet!" Professor McGonagall raised her voice, silencing the room. "You must not mention that I've had this conversation with you. Professor Snape is out of the school tonight, otherwise he would be keeping an eye on me. The other teachers will do their best to protect you from the Carrows and Snape, but I must warn you, do NOT antagonise them!"

"Professor," The small voice of one of the first or second years spoke up. "Can't we just go home?"

Professor McGonagall sighed. "I wish it were that simple. The new Ministry decrees state that attendance at Hogwarts is now compulsory for all children," Professor McGonagall's expression twisted, "of legitimate wizarding decent," she sighed. "And you can be arrested for not attending school."

The room was silent, all of them watching Professor McGonagall intently.

"There is no need to be afraid," she said smiling slightly. "Those of us who are loyal to Professor Dumbledore's memory will protect you, but you need to keep your heads down, ignore the harassment from the Slytherins and do as you're told." She paused. "Do not mention this conversation to anyone and do not write about it in letters home, your mail is being monitored."

Several of the younger Gryffindors were now becoming more and more upset. Ron even thought he heard the sound of sniffling coming from somewhere in the common room.

Ron knew he was a Prefect, but how was he supposed to comfort crying children? If only Hermione was here, she would know what to do.

"Do not worry," Professor McGonagall reassured them. "There are people out there fighting for what is right, and we will not give up until this time of darkness has passed."

Then, Professor McGonagall paused for a second, her eyes scanning the students, before continuing. "I need to get to the staff meeting," she hesitated. "Look after yourselves and each other. Remember, you are all Gryffindors together." She then turned and left the common room.

The Gryffindor common room was silent for several minutes after she left, everyone was too shocked to speak. Eventually, the students began to drift back to where they had been sitting before.

Ron collapsed into the sofa next to Neville and groaned. If Professor McGonagall was correct, then things were as bad as he'd feared.

"So they just expect us to sit here and do nothing," Neville ventured eventually.

"I guess so," Ron replied glumly.

"Well," Neville added with a short chuckle. "It's not as if we can do anything from here."

Ron was silent for second.

"We can do something," he whispered to Neville. "We didn't spend most of last year learning Defence from Harry only to sit here."

"We can reform Dumbledore's Army!" Neville exclaimed.

"Ssh!" Ron whispered furiously. "It needs to be a secret! But yes, we can. We can resist the Death Eaters and protect the younger kids."

"But how?" Neville asked.

"Do you still have your Galleon?" Ron asked.

Neville nodded.

"We can use the galleons, plus tell as many people as we can. People we trust. We just need to be far more careful this time, only tell people we absolutely trust. This time if we get caught we won't just get detention; they could throw us in Azkaban!"

**Adam  
September 4th 1997**

It was early evening and, as usual, Adam was sitting with Ginny on one of the sofas in the tent, currently finishing his dinner.

"That was really nice," Adam said, with a grin on his face.

"I told you I could cook," Ginny smirked, as she collected their plates.

Adam was silent for a few seconds as he watched Ginny cleaning up the dinner things. They'd come to an agreement about splitting up the chores around the tent. Today had been Ginny's turn to cook and she had been vehemently insistent that Adam did nothing.

Adam couldn't help but smile as Ginny skipped energetically back across the tent towards him.

"All done!" she exclaimed brightly.

Adam grinned back her. "I love you," he began. "Sometimes I feel just so lucky."

"_Lucky_!" Ginny exclaimed, stifling a laugh. "We're currently on the run from the darkest wizard alive and our own Ministry of Magic and you feel lucky?"

"I mean," Adam began, trying to explain himself, "look at me five years ago. I was living on the streets. Then I find out I'm a wizard and can go to magic school where I meet the best friend anyone could ever have asked for, " Adam waved his arms, trying to express himself. "I fall in love with her, and then, as if by some miracle, she falls in love with me!"

Ginny didn't respond verbally. Instead she practically leapt the final few feet towards Adam and plopped herself onto his lap so she landed facing him.

"I love you," Ginny said as she kissed him.

A short time later, they were disturbed by a loud popping noise, and Adam, who'd had his eyes firmly fixed on Ginny, suddenly looked up and saw an old decrepit house-elf standing in the middle of their tent.

Adam swore loudly, leapt up off the seat, sending Ginny flying in the process, and pointed his wand at the elf.

"Kreacher?" Adam asked hesitantly.

"Master..." the elf practically spat out.

"Adam?" Ginny asked, picking herself up from the floor.

"It's Kreacher, Sirius' old elf," Adam replied, then, turning to Kreacher, he ordered. "Tell me why you're here."

"Grimmauld Place," the elf ground out. "Master must come and take care of some business."

"It's a trap, Adam!" Ginny exclaimed.

"No!" Kreacher spat back. "Filthy blood traitor miss lies. Master must come!"

"Don't call her that!" Adam roared back at Kreacher, taking a step towards him threateningly.

"How did you find us, Kreacher?" Ginny asked, in a friendlier tone. "Who told you where we are?"

"F...," Kreacher gasped, as if trying to cough up something unpleasant. "...Miss, he doesn't have to listen to her."

"Tell me how you found us," Adam snapped at Kreacher.

"Hogwarts Headmaster, told Kreacher to find you and give you information," Kreacher replied. "Master told Kreacher to obey the Headmaster."

Adam paused, thinking back to the meeting Professor Dumbledore's office when he'd first found out about Kreacher. He'd told Kreacher to obey the Headmaster, but at the time he'd meant Dumbledore.

"Who is the Headmaster?" Adam asked.

Kreacher gasped and gagged but didn't respond.

Adam sighed. "Tell me who the Headmaster is!" He ordered.

"Professor Snape!" Kreacher gasped out.

"Snape!" Ginny gasped in horror. "They made Snape Headmaster?"

"Well, they already control the Ministry," Adam replied grimly. "Looks like they now control Hogwarts, too."

"Master must come and take charge of his house at Grimmauld place!" Kreacher said again bowing his head.

"Quiet, Kreacher," Adam ordered.

"He's blatantly been sent here by Snape to try and get you to go the house. I bet they'll be waiting for us."

"Yeah," Adam replied. "But equally, we can't let Kreacher go back to Hogwarts. He could tell them where we are."

Ginny nodded in agreement, before continuing. "How did he find us anyway?"

"Kreacher," Adam said turning to the elf. "Tell me how you found us? Did you tell Snape where we are?"

Kreacher struggled against the orders for several seconds, his facial expressions twisting as he fought not to respond. "Kreacher can always appear for master," he gasped, "and Kreacher wishes he could tell the noble Headmaster where his Master is."

"Kreacher," Adam said, glancing quickly at Ginny and noticing the relieved look on her face. "You will not tell anyone anything about where we are. You will not tell anyone anything about us at all."

Kreacher began to gasp and grabbed his throat. "But...Mistress Black...The Headmaster.."

"Kreacher," Adam continued. "From now on you will only obey either myself or Ginny. You will not return to Hogwarts."

"No!" Kreacher exclaimed. "Master can't make me obey," he grabbed his throat again. "The Muggle loving—"

"Kreacher!" Adam exclaimed, taking a step forward. "You will not insult Ginny!"

Kreacher shrank backwards from Adam in fear, bumping into the table in the centre of the tent and knocking it over.

Upon seeing Kreacher's reaction to him Adam immediately felt a surge of guilt. He wasn't intimidating. _Was he?_ _Was Kreacher afraid of him?  
_  
"Kreacher," Adam replied in softer tone of voice. "You may make me angry, but I won't hurt you."

Kreacher didn't reply. Instead, he was staring into the ruin of the table, and all the things that had been piled on top of it.

"Kreacher?" Adam asked, uncertain what the house-elf was doing.

Ginny quickly advanced towards the elf. Then, apparently seeing what he was doing, she leapt forward trying to grab onto something.

"The Locket!" She cried out, and Adam saw Kreacher trying to rip the locket out of Ginny's grip.

"Master Regulus' Locket!" Kreacher screamed. "Kreacher's!"

From what Adam could see, the house-elf was extremely strong and Ginny was about to lose her grip on the locket. He stepped forward, ready to pull Kreacher off Ginny.

"Adam, no!" Ginny exclaimed. "Kreacher! Let go!"

Immediately, with a wail of despair, Kreacher released his grip and flopped to the floor.

Adam looked at Ginny, who was standing there with the locket in her hand.

"You told him to obey me," she said with a shrug. "What was all that about then?"

"Kreacher," Adam said, slowly approaching the elf and kneeling down in front of him. "Tell me who's locket that is."

Kreacher brought his head up and stared right into Adam's eyes.

"Master Regulus'," the elf said in quiet voice.

"Regulus Black?" Ginny questioned, coming up and kneeling next to Adam.

Kreacher nodded.

"Kreacher," Ginny said, obviously picking up that Adam was trying a softer approach with the elf. "Tell me what Master Regulus' middle name was."

Kreacher stared at Ginny, his mouth moving silently, before turning back to Adam and choking out. "Arcturus."

"R.A.B!" Ginny exclaimed.

Adam nodded back excitedly at her. They had managed to see through Snape's trap and by pure luck had a new lead!

"Kreacher," Adam said, turning back to the elf. "You will tell me everything you know about this locket."

**Ron  
September 6th 1997**

Ron stood in the Room of Requirement, looking at the others that had assembled there. It was a paltry gathering compared to their lessons last year with Harry. There were fewer than fifteen of them now.

"Er...," Ron began hesitantly. "Thanks for coming."

It had taken a great deal of effort to gather the army once again and Ron had been in constant fear that someone would betray them to the Carrows, but, much to his relief, no one had been waiting for them in the Room of Requirement. It seemed as if they were safe for now.

"So," Ron continued. "I think we're all agreed that things are wrong at school, and we have to do _something_."

Some of the room's occupants, mainly the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, broke out into muted whispers.

"We're being taught Dark Arts for Merlin's sake!" Neville exclaimed suddenly. "That can't be right! Can it?"

"Professor Dumbledore and Harry told us last year that You-Know-Who had returned," Ron continued. "I'm certain that he is now controlling the Ministry and that Snape is also working for him!"

"How do you know?" Michael Corner called from the back of the room. "I know things aren't good, but how do you we know He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is responsible."

"They came to my house over the summer and tried to arrest Ginny for treason!" Ron shouted back. "Ginny! My sister! For Treason!"

"What did she do?" Hannah Abbott asked.

"They came for her just because she was with Adam," Ron snapped in response, beginning to get angry now. "And don't anyone dare bring up that nonsense about him killing Professor Dumbledore. If anyone actually believes that then you're too stupid to be here."

The room was silent.

"It's all true," A quiet voice spoke up from the back.

Ron saw that the person who had spoken was Susan Bones who was currently standing next to Hannah Abbott. Ron was surprised to hear her speak, since he couldn't actually remember her ever speaking up in a meeting before.

"I..." she began. "Auntie Amelia just vanished and then..." she hesitated. "Then this horrible man came to the house..."

"Was his name Yaxley?" Ron interrupted. "He came to ours as well."

"That was him," Susan continued hesitantly. "There is no way he should be working in the Ministry. It took my auntie years and years to get her job and he just appeared from nowhere."

"Does anyone else have any doubts?" Ron questioned to group again. When no one responded, he continued, echoing Professor McGonagall's words from a few days ago. "Good. There are people out there fighting for what is right, but we have to do our part here."

"We need to look after the younger students, stop the Slytherin's from making our lives a living hell," Neville continued, recapping for the other houses what the Gryffindors had been discussing for several days.

"But how is that really fighting?" Terry Boot spoke up from the back of the room. "If things are really that bad, then surely we need to do more than just protect each other and stop the Slytherins."

"Well..." Ron began hesitantly. "I..."

"You don't have more of a plan?" someone else called out.

"It's not just up to Ron to come up with a plan, you know," Neville snapped out in response, surprising even Ron. "We're all in this together. We need to work together. When there is something bigger that we need to do, then we'll plan."

"So for now we can just watch," Luna Lovegood said dreamily from the back of the room.

"Exactly!" Ron exclaimed. "We'll meet reasonably regularly. We can practice safely here and when something happens, then we can act."

That seemed to meet with agreement from the room and, once they had set the date for the next meeting, the others began to trickle back to their common rooms.

Once they were gone, Ron sighed with relief. Dumbledore's army was back, and he'd even managed to do it without Hermione.


	8. Chapter 7

**Ginny  
September 13th 1997**

Ginny wandered around the inside of their tent, aimlessly trying to pass some time. For the last few days they had been stuck inside, waiting for Kreacher to return with Mundungus Fletcher. Fletcher, one of the Order's most disreputable members, had apparently nicked the real Horcrux locket from Grimmauld place in the aftermath of Sirius' death.

When the elf had described the locket, Ginny had realised with horror that it was the very same locket that she had held in her hand when they were cleaning number twelve the summer Adam had been kidnapped. _If only she'd known!_

Adam and Ginny, well mainly Adam, had been able to win Kreacher over to their side somewhat, by kindly listening to his story about the locket and telling him that they were going to finish Regulus' mission. What had completely won his loyalty, however, was when Adam had offered to give him the fake locket from the cave. The elf had promptly burst out in tears and had only been too happy to go and find Fletcher for them.

Ginny completed her circuit of the tent and cast a critical glance at its overall cleanliness. Satisfied, she walked to the flap and peered out into the old warehouse. The building looked dismal and she could feel the temperature difference even just poking her head out of the flap. At least she had a nice warm tent to sleep in, since she wouldn't like to sleep out there!

_Oh..._

Ginny shook-herself, keeping herself firmly in the here and now, and began to securely refasten the flap. Neither she nor Adam would be going out today.

As she was doing up the middle buckle, a crash from behind her startled her and she spun around. A man was on the floor struggling with a much smaller creature. Almost immediately, the man's larger size prevailed; he threw the creature away and shot to his feet, wand in hand.

"_Expelliarmus!_" Ginny cried, reacting instinctively and disarming the man.

The man gazed frantically around the tent, and his eyes locked with hers. Ginny recognised him; it was Fletcher and that meant that the thing that he had thrown across the tent was Kreacher!

As the man eyed her, Ginny felt immediately uncomfortable. She didn't like the way he was looking at her, plus, he was _much,_ _much_ bigger than she. If he decided to charge her, she would have be quick and Stun him.

"Adam!" Ginny called out, keeping her wand pointed at the man. "Don't move, Fletcher!" she ordered.

The man took a step forward and suddenly Adam's voice roared out from across the tent. "SHE SAID DON'T MOVE!"

Adam rapidly crossed the tent to where Fletcher was standing, keeping his wand pointed at the man the whole time.

"Potter!" he exclaimed.

"Yes," Adam replied, gesturing with his wand for Fletcher to move towards one of the chairs.

Now that Adam had Fletcher at wand point, Ginny crossed the room, still keeping her wand pointing in his direction, to check on Kreacher. The elf was sitting up where he had been thrown, looking slightly dazed.

"Are you okay, Kreacher?" Ginny asked kindly.

"Kreacher got the thief, Miss," the elf replied, bowing slightly. He seemed to be taking Adam's previous order to obey her seriously now.

"Well done, Kreacher," she replied, glancing over at Adam who now had Fletcher sitting tied up in the chair. "But are you okay?"

"Kreacher is fine, Miss," the elf replied simply.

Now satisfied that elf wasn't hurt, Ginny got to her feet and crossed the tent to stand next to Adam.

"Ginny," he said, turning away from Fletcher. "Mundungus here was about to tell us about the Locket he took from Sirius' house."

"I am?" Fletcher deadpanned.

Adam scowled at him. "Yeah, you are."

"Why d'ya want to know," he spat. "Is it valuable?"

"Does he still have it?" Ginny asked, feeling a surge of excitement.

"No," Adam answered. "I've searched him."

Putting her hands on her hips, Ginny demanded. "So where is it, then?"

"I sold it, didn't I?" Fletcher answered.

"Who did you sell it to?" Adam demanded.

"I..." the man hesitated. "I tried to sell it on Diagon alley, but no one was buying."

"So," Adam interrupted. "What did you do with it?"

"I was just getting to that, wasn't I?" Fletcher snapped back, looking uneasily at Adam's wand. "As I couldn't shift it I had to sell it to Borgin and Burkes. Gave me a pittance for it, but," he shrugged. "What else could I do?"

Adam and Ginny stared at each other, completely ignoring Fletcher. Borgin and Burkes! At last they had a new lead. Now all they had to do was persuade Kreacher to take Fletcher back to where he had found him and start planning.

**Adam  
September 15th 1997**

After a day of planning, during which time Kreacher had returned to Grimmauld Place to make sure that it was secure, Adam and Ginny, with Ginny disguised and Adam under the Invisibility Cloak, ventured back into Diagon Alley.

Adam had only reluctantly agreed to use the cloak instead of a disguise. In his opinion, with Ginny seemingly left on her own she was exposed, but all of his disguises had one major weakness. His glasses. He was useless without them, but he only had two sets of frames: Harry's and Adam's and both of those would cause people to give him a second look, which would be bad. Very bad.

The two of them moved into Diagon Alley and, as soon as they were through the Leaky Cauldron, Ginny made beeline towards the nearest place where they could buy the Daily Prophet.

Ginny paid for the newspaper, and then, leaning against a nearby wall she began reading it. Adam crept up behind her, touching her side briefly just so she knew he was there, and began reading over her shoulder.

They skimmed through the paper, looking for any relevant articles. There were still pictures of Adam and Ginny located on the back pages, but, much to their relief, there seemed to be no new information on either of them.

However, one article did attract their attention. It was an article about Snape and a load of rubbish about a grand new vision for Hogwarts.

"Reading through this," Ginny whispered. "I'm glad I'm not at Hogwarts," she paused. "I hope Ron's okay."

Adam nodded in response, before suddenly realising that Ginny wouldn't be able to see it.

"Look," he whispered. Suddenly spotting a list at the bottom of the page. "A list of missing Muggle-borns."

Adam scanned the list, and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Hermione's name.

Ginny must have seen it as well, as she too seemed to relax. "She got away," Ginny whispered to him. "But she's wanted for questioning," her face twisted. "For stealing her magic."

"She's smart," Adam reassured Ginny, and himself. "She won't get caught."

After they had finished scanning through the rest of the paper, Ginny casually folded it up and placed it in a nearby bin.

With the first job of the day done, it was time to head to Knockturn Alley.

Knockturn Alley was surprisingly busy, and Adam watched as Ginny had to push past several people to make progress down the narrow alleyway.

Eventually, after a laborious walk down the dark passage, they caught sight of Borgin and Burkes. The only way to identify the shop was by the dusty and faded sign hanging above it.

Once she caught sight of the shop, Ginny immediately wound her way towards it. Adam followed her, having to stifle a laugh when a man bumped into her, only to back away when she glared at him.

Ginny, with Adam hot on her heels, pushed open the shop's door and stepped inside, holding the door open just long enough for Adam to enter.

Once inside, Adam looked around. The room was filled to overflowing with cabinets, shelves and tables, all of which were covered in what looked like innocent trinkets. The place had neglected feeling to it and Adam could see that everything on display was covered in a layer of dust.

"Welcome," a voice seemed to echo around the shop. "What is a delicate young lady doing in a place like this?"

Adam saw that the voice had come from the man standing behind the counter. Upon seeing the man, Adam stood completely still; if the man detected him, then the whole plan would be blown.

Adam watched carefully, keeping a firm grip on his wand, as Ginny walked towards the counter. They had thought up what would hopefully be a good enough plan as, from what he knew about Borgin and Burkes, Adam suspected that the owner would be reluctant to sell a Dark artefact to a sixteen-year-old girl.

"You think I'm really a delicate young lady?" Ginny sneered at him.

Adam silently applauded his girlfriend's acting ability, she was awesome!

The man behind the counter looked baffled for a second.

"Even in these times, some of us can't move openly," Ginny continued. "I have a request for you."

"What do you require?" The man said cautiously, it didn't appear as if he was fully convinced by Ginny's act.

"I'm looking for a locket," Ginny replied. "A golden locket with an S on it."

The man's eyes narrowed and he paused, staring at Ginny. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Adam's greatest fear was that the shop owner may have already sold the locket, or even worse, have recognised it for what it was and given it to Voldemort.

_Stick to the plan, Ginny!_ Adam encouraged her silently.

Ginny casually reached into one of her pockets and withdrew a small bag, which she idly placed on the counter and commented. "Think back, Borgin."

The man fixed Ginny with a stare, before grabbing the bag and looking inside. When he did his eyes widened.

"I'm serious about the locket, Borgin," Ginny continued, now sounding angry.

Borgin paused, then, finally, he shuffled off to a chest of drawers behind the counter and began rummaging inside.

Adam watched as Ginny turned and looked around the shop. As she scanned the room, her eyes paused as her gaze passed near him. _Did she know where he was?_ It was possible, Adam thought, but then she could have been simply looking out of the window behind him. He couldn't give any sign to her though. Any strange noises might give them away.

A few minutes later, Borgin had returned with a wooden box, which he preceded to place on the counter in front of Ginny.

Ginny, who was now looking nervous and slightly pale, snapped. "Is that it, Borgin?"

Then, before Borgin had even had chance to reply, Adam felt the shop shake. He felt a surge of panic, and then, before he could figure out what was going on, he was thrown to the floor by what felt like hundreds of tiny knives, many of which had lodged themselves into his back.

By the time he came back to his senses everything had changed. _Huh_, he thought to himself._ I must have been knocked out!_

The shop itself had been devastated, many of the shelves and cabinets had been upended and there were shards of glass and other debris scattered across the floor.

Standing near where the counter had been were two figures wearing long black cloaks. One of them was holding Ginny, whose face was streaked with blood, around the throat. She was currently being pressed up against one of the shop's walls, with what looked like considerable force. The other man was standing next to her, pointing his wand right at her face.

From where he was lying, Adam could see the terrified look on Ginny's face. Her mouth was moving soundlessly, as if she was struggling to breathe.

Adam felt a rush of anger. He knew he had to act. Both men currently had their backs to him and, with a surge of hope, Adam realised that they somehow didn't seem to have noticed him.

_The cloak!_ Adam realised with a start. _I'm still covered by the cloak!_

Adam gripped his wand, lifted up the cloak slightly and pointed it at the man who had his wand pointed at Ginny. Whispering the spell under his breath he sent a Stunner in the man's direction.

The red light hit the man in the back and he crumpled to the ground. Adam immediately leapt up, threw the cloak off and charged forward, intending to deal with the other man.

Ginny, however, was just as quick as he. By the time Adam had jumped to his feet, she had already kicked her captor, making his face twist in agony, and they both collapsed to the floor.

Quickly climbing back to her feet, Ginny grinned gratefully at Adam and then scrabbled around inside the Death Eater's robes, soon retrieving her wand.

"Thanks!" She gasped breathlessly. "When they blew the window in, I didn't know what happened to you. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Adam answered. "But we need to get out of here!" he continued tensely. "There may be more on the way. I'll keep watch. Can you try to find Borgin or the locket?"

Ginny grinned at him, and reached inside her top and pulled out a golden locket with a large S engraved on it.

"Borgin did a runner after the explosion and I grabbed it from the box," She replied with a grin.

"You're fantastic," Adam exclaimed, he then took her hand. "Okay, let's go."

As he began moving, he felt Ginny holding him back.

"What?" he asked.

"Can't we just go from here?" Ginny replied.

Could they Apparate directly from here? He'd never thought about it, but it was worth a try. If it worked it would save them an awful lot of trouble.

Nodding his understanding, Adam quickly retrieved the cloak, grabbed hold of Ginny and, focusing on their destination, he turned on the spot.

As he turned, he felt a pull on his ankle, but, before he could try to figure out what it was, he felt the familiar pull of Apparition.

The moment he and Ginny arrived just outside the industrial building that had been their home for the past weeks, Adam felt a sudden force against his legs, sending him flying to the floor.

He landed on his back and his entire body suddenly erupted in tremendous pain as a series of sharp objects suddenly began to press further into his back. He lay there for second trying to fight back the pain, then he heard Ginny scream. Fighting through the pain, Adam forced himself back to his feet, just in time to see Ginny fall to the floor.

Rushing to defend Ginny, Adam fired a series of Stunning spells towards the cloaked man who had somehow managed to follow them.

"Leave her alone!" he shouted.

The man deflected Adam's volley of spells with a strong shield, and, with an evil smirk, he waved his wand towards Ginny and Adam felt his blood boil as she screamed again.

"_Expulso_!" Adam screamed and fired the spell at the man.

The spell itself was far too powerful for the Death Eater to absorb with a shield. Instead he managed to barely deflect the spell into the ground. Even so, the deflected spell still had more than enough force to send the man flying into a nearby fence.

Adam sent another volley of Stunners at the man, which he was able to frantically deflect as he regained his footing. Then, before Adam was able to launch another set of spells at him, the man spun on the spot and disappeared with a loud pop.

Adam stared dumbfounded at the empty space where the man had been. He'd run away! _That wasn't fair!_

Then Adam realised with horror, that they were only metres from their hideout. The man must have run to tell Voldemort where they were! The place would be swarming with Death Eaters in no time!

Adam dashed over to where Ginny was still lying on the floor, moaning softly.

"Ginny," Adam said softly, pulling her into his arms. "Oh... Ginny."

"I'm..." she began weakly. "I'm alright... it just hurt so much..."

"I'm sorry," Adam replied softly, as he held her. "But I need to get you up. We need to get moving."

"Okay, let me up then," Ginny replied, her voice sounding firmer. "I'm fine!"

Ginny struggled to her feet, shaking off Adam's attempts at help.

"What happened to the Death Eater?" she asked, still standing slightly unsteadily.

"He got away," Adam said dismally.

"Oh," Ginny replied, her face falling. "Does that mean..."

"Yes," Adam replied. "We need to get moving, pack up and get out of here."

"Right," Ginny responded, scanning their surroundings. "We can just leave the majority of the stuff in the tent though, the charms should take care of it, but where can we go?"

"I've got a couple of ideas, but none are as safe as here," Adam answered, moving to help her so they could move quicker. "Let's get going, we don't have much time."

"I'm fine!" Ginny snapped, pushing Adam away so should could stand on her own. "But we need to be much more careful next time. I don't think we can be seen in the Wizarding world for a while."

Adam nodded, and they set off at as fast they could manage back towards their camp. He knew they had very little time before the place would be swarming with Death Eaters.

**Ron  
September 18th 1997**

As Ron trudged down to breakfast with Neville, he saw a large crowd clustered on one side of Entrance Hall. They all seemed to be looking at something that had been stuck up on the wall.

"Ron!" Seamus called to him from across the room. "You have to see this!"

Ron quickly crossed the room and stared up at the poster that seemed to have grabbed the attention of most of the school.

As he looked, his mouth dropped open. On a poster, was a picture of two people: One was unmistakably Harry Potter, the other was a young woman, with long blonde hair.

**WANTED FOR BRUTAL ASSAULT ON MINISTRY AURORS  
Weasley, Potter and Winters.**

A heavily disguised Ginevra Weasley, Harry Potter and Adam Winters were spotted yesterday during a shock raid on Diagon Alley. These three terrorists brutally attacked an innocent merchant, seriously injuring him. They then proceeded to assault and seriously injure the squad of Ministry Aurors dispatched to deal with the situation.

The above photograph pictures Potter and Weasley, in the disguise that she is currently believed to be using.

The Ministry require that anyone with information on these criminals immediately contact the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. 

Ron stared dumbfounded at the poster. That woman with blonde hair was Ginny. What had she gotten herself involved in? He'd hoped she would just lie low until they could clear her name but, even so, he didn't believe for one second that any of the three would be involved in brutally assaulting Aurors.

Ron was pretty sure he knew what had happened; the Aurors had probably tried to arrest either Adam or Ginny for the stupid crimes that they had been accused of and Harry had appeared to help them.

Suddenly, Ron became aware of whispering around him. The other students were whispering about Ginny, Adam and Harry. Ron shook his head and turned away, he wasn't going to stand here and listen to them accuse his sister and friends of being terrorists and criminals.

"Ron!" Neville called to him, as he began to make his way into the Great Hall for breakfast. "Take a look at this."

Ron looked over towards Neville, and saw him pointing to a smaller poster next to the one about Ginny. Ron crossed back across the room, and looked at the list that Neville was pointing to.

"This is a list of all Muggle-borns wanted for-," Neville grimaced. "- Stealing Magic."

"There's Hermione's name!" Ron exclaimed, then suddenly he lowered his voice. "That means they haven't caught her."

"I know!" Neville replied, with a grin on his face. "She's okay!"

"I think," A voice drawled from behind them, causing the whispering students to immediately quieten. "That you should all get to breakfast."

Ron turned, and glared at Snape, who was standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall watching the students, with a sneer plastered on his face.

Sighing at what Hogwarts had become with him as Headmaster, Ron turned and began walking to the Great Hall.

"Weasley," Snape drawled. "Get over here."

Ron and Neville froze.

"Go on," Ron whispered to Neville. "You'll only get in trouble for trying to stick around," he hesitated. "Wait for me in the Great Hall."

Ron, trying to look as confident as possible, walked reluctantly over to Snape.

"Yes, sir," he spat out.

"Well, Weasley," Snape responded. "I see your sister is making a name for herself."

"Yes, sir," Ron responded again, biting back his anger.

"I don't suppose you'd know where she is?" Snape asked silkily.

"No," Ron replied, unable to stop his anger showing. "It's the Ministry's fault she ran away anyway!"

"Well, Weasley," Snape continued, seemingly ignoring what he had said. "If you do hear anything then I assume you will do your duty and report it. I needn't remind you of the perils that someone who assisted a wanted criminal would be in, do I?"

"No, sir," Ron replied sarcastically. "I would definitely turn in my only sister."

"Very good, Weasley," Snape replied, seemingly to completely miss Ron's sarcasm. "Now off you go, I would hate to have to give you a detention for being late."

Ron glared at Snape, before turning on his heel and dashing into the Great Hall. If he was quick he would have chance to grab some breakfast before his first lesson. As he walked to the Gryffindor table, he fingered the fake galleon in his pocket. Perhaps it was time to call another DA meeting.

**September 21st 1997**

"Right!" Ron projected his voice, so he got the attention of the assembled DA members. "I just want to make this absolutely clear before we start. Ginny, Adam, and Harry are not the criminals they are being made out to be. We all know the Ministry and Snape are rotten to the core and anything they make up is a load of dragon droppings!"

The room was silent. No one seemed to want to respond.

"How many of you saw the list of Muggle-borns?" Neville added, sounding slightly angry. "Do any of you think they actually stole magic?"

"Of course not!" someone shouted out.

"I know most of you probably didn't know Adam or Ginny," Ron continued. "But I know that those in Gryffindor know that they aren't criminals!"

"Hear! Hear!" A few voices shouted.

"And Harry, we all learnt from Harry last year," Ron said, speaking over the voices. "He was trained by _Dumbledore_. If they're all working together then they're doing something to stop You-Know-Who and we need to do our part to help them."

"But what?" one of the Hufflepuffs exclaimed.

"Spread the word," Ron responded. "Don't tell anyone about the DA without asking me, but get your houses organised. Make sure your housemates stay in your common rooms after lessons, make sure they go everywhere in groups. DA members especially need to watch over the younger ones, but try to get others involved as well."

This plan seemed to meet with enthusiasm. It was something the DA could do and it wasn't too dangerous.

"But whatever you do," Ron cautioned, "don't tell anyone, or mention anything when you write home. Snape's already threatened me with what he'll do if he catches me trying to communicate with Ginny and McGonagall told all the Gryffindors that they are checking our mail. You must not tell anyone about the DA, or we'll all be in for it!"

Ron noticed that a few paled at this announcement, he hoped that no one had already written home about the DA. If they had, then they were in big trouble.

**Ginny  
September 22nd 1997**

Ginny sighed with frustration as, once again, she was awoken at an unnaturally early hour of the morning by a Muggle train passing close by.

In the days since their narrow escape from Borgin and Burkes, they had been forced to move camp twice. The first place Adam had taken them to was inside a small wood in what appeared to be a big park. They had stayed there for three days, but the wood seemed to be frequented by Muggles and when one had nearly stumbled upon them they'd been forced to move.

Once they had left the wood, Adam had taken them to a large yard that seemed to house many Muggle trains. They had set up their tent just outside of the fence under the cover of some trees. So far they had gone unnoticed, but the trains had woken Ginny very early every morning.

Since they had moved, Adam was insistent that they kept guard. He obviously no longer trusted that the location they were in was safe. The arrangement they had come to was that Adam would go to sleep in the early evening, and the two of them would swap over just after midnight. This meant that one of them was awake at all times.

Ginny knew that Adam had the raw end of the deal, as she normally ended up getting far more sleep than he did, but despite her protests he stubbornly refused to change the arrangements. Another problem was that Adam was insistent that they never left the tent empty. Apparently, while he had been living on the streets he'd learnt the hard way to never leave his things behind. It was for this reason, that, even though they had now settled down here and the area seemed secure, they still hadn't done anything.

Finally deciding that she wasn't going to bother trying to get back to sleep, Ginny dragged herself out of her bed, dressed, and wandered into the living area of the tent.

"Morning," Adam greeted her as she lifted the flap that led to her room.

"Good morning," Ginny replied, crossing to the tent to where Adam was standing at the stove and giving him a kiss.

"Trains wake you again?" Adam questioned her, as he added more bacon to the frying pan.

"Yeah," Ginny replied with a sigh, as she moved to the cupboard to get out more breakfast things.

"Sorry," Adam replied in a soft voice. "I'll have a think about where else we could go so you-"

"Adam!" Ginny cut him off. "We're safe here. We don't need to move just because the trains wake me up early. They are just as bad in the evenings when you're sleeping!"

Adam didn't respond, instead turning his full attention back to cooking breakfast.

Once the bacon was cooked, Adam carried two plates over to the table and placed one down in front of her.

"Thanks," Ginny replied with a grin. "Looks delicious as usual."

Adam smiled slightly in response and took his seat next to her.

"You've still got the locket on?" She questioned, seeing the slight bulge beneath his t-shirt.

"Yeah..." Adam replied, with a shrug. "I didn't really want to take it off."

Once they had returned from Borgin and Burkes, they had both decided that they should always keep the locket on one of their persons. Adam had immediately volunteered to wear it and Ginny had agreed without argument. In reality she agreed for purely selfish reasons; the Horcrux locket was too big and would have been very uncomfortable for her to wear. It would also have been constantly banging against the locket that Adam had bought for her birthday two years ago, which she always wore. However, the main reason she didn't want the Horcrux near her was very simple; in her first year she had been so easily sucked in by Riddle's diary, she would never be able to live with herself if a similar thing happened now and she ended up hurting Adam.

"Adam..." Ginny ventured once she was nearly finished with her breakfast. "Is..." she hesitated. "Is the Horcrux okay? It's not affecting you is it?"

Adam paused with his fork halfway to his mouth and turned to her. "Um..." he hesitated, rubbing his scar briefly. "It's fine, I think."

"Good," Ginny replied with a smile. "It's... it's just that we haven't done anything since we got the locket and well..."

"I..." Adam replied hesitantly, suddenly looking flustered.

"Adam..." Ginny continued. "We need to get out and search for the next Horcrux and try to find a way to destroy the one we have. We've eliminated all the places on the list now other than Godric's Hollow or—"

"No!" Adam exclaimed suddenly interrupted her. "I..." he hesitated. "Can we just lay low for a while?"

"Why?"

Adam worked his mouth soundlessly but didn't respond.

"Well?" Ginny asked again, feeling slightly irritated by his inability to answer.

"What happened at Borgin and Burkes scared me, okay?" he snapped. "I don't want anything to happen to you, alright?"

"Oh, Adam," Ginny said, her voice softening. "Nothing's going to happen to me, we'll stick together."

Adam shook his head from side to side. "I don't think there's anything at Godric's Hollow anyway. We need to figure out how to destroy the Horcrux before we go looking for another."

"We need to..." Ginny began and shuddered. "Get into the Chamber and get a fang. We'll destroy the locket just like the ring."

"No!" Adam exclaimed again. "Hogwarts is far too dangerous."

"So we just sit here, then?" Ginny snapped back. "Everything is too dangerous, is it?"

"It's not that..." Adam began, beginning to wave his arms in a strange gesture. "I just think..." he trailed off.

They sat there in uncomfortable silence, Adam stubbornly refusing to continue with his explanation as to why it was too dangerous to do anything.

"Right," Ginny said, putting her hands on her hips. "We are running out of food. I'm going to sneak down to that Muggle shop we saw the other day. You need to have a think about whether you actually want to win this or just hide!"

"No!" Adam shouted at her, suddenly looking angry. "You're not going!"

Ginny glared back at him, as she walked over and threw on her coat angrily. "Don't try to tell me what I can and can't do! I'm going and I suggest you think about this stupid argument!"

As she pulled aside the tent flap, Ginny saw the expression on Adam's face rapidly change from anger, to terror, to sorrow.

She didn't know what was wrong with him, but she hoped he sorted himself out before she got back.

**Ron  
September 25th 1997**

Once Herbology had finished, Ron left the greenhouses and, after a brief conversation with Hagrid, headed straight to Gryffindor tower.

One of the nice things about being in his NEWT year was that he had free lessons. Ron generally spent his free time in Gryffindor tower. There he could use his time to either plan for the DA or do school work.

Not that they had been able to come up with any idea of anything _real_ the DA could do to help.

On the way up the staircase, he suddenly heard a shrill shriek coming from one of the corridors. Ron tensed, and, without really thinking about it, he charged down the corridor, determined to investigate the cause of the sound.

What he found sickened him; Crabbe and Goyle, the two _huge _Slytherins who had recently been made Prefects by Snape, were standing over a small Ravenclaw girl who was huddled in terror against the door to a girls' toilet.

"Why aren't you in class?" Crabbe demanded, pressing his wand into the girl's forehead.

"Pro.." she stuttered. "Prof-Professor Mc...McGonagall..."

"You can't answer!" Goyle added, with an almost gleeful voice. "I'll take that to mean you have no reason! You were skiving!"

"No..." the girl whimpered. "Please..."

Ron didn't like that way that Crabbe and Goyle suddenly began looking at each other eagerly. When they raised their wands, he realised he had to do something.

"Oi!" Ron shouted. "She said Professor McGonagall gave her permission!"

"Weasley!" The two shouted, immediately turning to face him. "Leave now! Or we'll put you in detention!"

Ron paused for a second, before answering. "You can't!"

"What?" Crabbe responded, suddenly sounding confused.

"I'm a Prefect!" Ron replied coolly, feeling, for the first time, thankful that he was a Prefect. "You can't punish another Prefect."

Crabbe and Goyle froze, both of their mouths falling open in confusion. _Thank Merlin they're both as thick as two short planks!_ Deciding to take advantage of the two Slytherins confusion, Ron gestured to the girl to run.

"Hey!" Crabbe exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

Ron couldn't help grinning as the girl got the message and quickly scampered off down the corridor.

"Hey!" Goyle added, suddenly realising that the girl had gone.

"She had permission to be out of class from Professor McGonagall anyway!" Ron added, with an arrogant shrug.

"Well..." Goyle replied, with an evil looking smirk forming on his face. "We'll just take this to Carrow."

Ron froze, suddenly realising that he may have gotten in over his head. He suddenly had two wands pointing at him. He eyed the Slytherins; he could probably Stun one, but then the other would get him and these two, in all likeliness, wouldn't object to using a dark curse against him.

So, not seeing any other option, Ron agreed to go along with them and allowed himself to be led to Amycus Carrow's office.

"Well..." Carrow exclaimed with a sly grin as Ron was pushed into the room. "A Weasley..."

"He stopped us from punishing a student," Crabbe whined, from behind him. "He..."

Carrow raised his hand, and Crabbe immediately stopped talking. "I've heard all I need to hear," Carrow replied, his grin now widening.

Ron suddenly felt himself being pushed further into the room and he heard the door click shut behind him. He watched in horror as Carrow pulled out his wand. _What had he gotten himself into... this was going to be bad._

Carrow sauntered across the room towards him, and ran his wand over Ron's cheek, causing Ron to shudder.

"Let me..." Carrow began silkily. "Let me show you what happens to those that oppose the rightful authority in this school."

Ron braced himself for the inevitable. They might be able to hurt him, but they couldn't seriously injure or kill him. _Could they?_

"Amycus," A voice drawled from behind him. "I think that..." the voice paused, "that based on who this student is, it would be wise for me to deal with him personally."

"Headmaster!" Carrow exclaimed. "I had it under control."

Ron felt his jaw drop; had Snape just appeared from nowhere and saved him? Or did he have something much worse in mind for him.

"Professor Carrow," Snape replied. "I don't doubt your abilities, but remember who is in charge here. Now leave us."

Ron watched, as Carrow, who still seemed to be grumbling under his breath, left the room with Crabbe and Goyle. Once he heard the door close, there was silence in the room. _Had Snape left too? _Ron turned on the spot and came face to face with Snape, who was standing less than a foot from him.

"Well, Weasley," Snape sneered. "In trouble again... don't think I've forgotten about your treacherous sister and her friend. Your precious pure blood won't save you if you follow their path."

Ron stood there dumbfounded. Snape had stopped Carrow from punishing him because he was a Pureblood?

"Still," Snape continued. "Such behaviour cannot go without punishment and I have exactly the thing in mind for you. Follow me."

With that, Snape swept out of the room and Ron stood frozen to the spot. Should he follow Snape or make a run for it?

"Weasley," Snape shouted from the corridor. "Move!"

Reluctantly, not seeing any other options at this point, Ron followed Snape through the castle and out into the grounds. _Where were they going?_

By the time Snape led Ron down the path towards Hagrid's hut, Ron was feeling incredibly confused. What could Snape be planning by taking him to Hagrid's?

"Headmaster!" Hagrid exclaimed as he strode out of his hut towards Snape, apparently having seem them approach. "What are you doing with Ron?"

"Hagrid," Snape sneered. "I have a volunteer for that expedition into the forest that I ordered earlier."

"He's a student!" Hagrid roared in response. "It's too dangerous!"

Ron gulped. He wondered what exactly Snape wanted Hagrid to do in the forest. Shuddering, he remembered clearly Adam and Ginny's adventure in the forest and their stories about the giant spiders that lived there.

"The danger doesn't matter to me," Snape sneered back. "His punishment will stand," Snape paused. "I'll leave him in your care and I'll expect your report in the morning."

Then, without waiting for Hagrid to even reply, Snape turned on the spot and strode back towards the school.

"Hagrid," Ron began hesitantly as he watched Snape stride back towards the school, his cloak swirling behind him. "What's going on?"

"Ron," Hagrid said with a sigh. "What did you do to get yourself in trouble?"

"I stuck up for one of the younger kids," Ron replied defiantly. "I wasn't going to let the Slytherins curse her!"

"I know! I know!" Hagrid responded. "But now I've got to take you into forest," then suddenly Hagrid's expression changed, and it turned to almost to a look of excitement.

"Hagrid?" Ron asked again. "Why are we going into the forest?"

"Oh," Hagrid said in a distracted voice. "Snape wants me to check on the Centaurs, he suspects they are plotting against him," Hagrid then began rubbing his huge hands together. "But I've got a better idea, how'd you like to meet my brother?"

"Your brother!" Ron exclaimed.

How had Hagrid, who had an incredibly big mouth, managed to hide his brother secretly at Hogwarts?


	9. Chapter 8

**Adam  
September 29th 1997**

_The gravel crunched under his feet as Adam wandered aimlessly down the path through the small graveyard._

As he saw the first two gravestones, he felt a lump appear in his throat. These two, despite the fact that he had never met them, had influenced his life in so many ways. They had given their lives so that he would have a chance to live.

James and Lily Potter__

The next two gravestones brought tears to his eyes. These were two of the people who had probably guided him the most, with the exception of the Weasleys. These two had also died protecting him.

Remus Lupin

Sirius Black__

As Adam continued walking along the path through the graveyard, he could see one more gravestone in the distance. When he saw what was written on it, he fell to his knees; huge sobs wracking his body. No!_ Adam cried despairingly. _Not you, too!__

Ginevra Molly Weasley

"Ginny!" Adam cried, sitting bolt upright. "Ginny!"

The room was dark and Adam panicked, his hands trembling wildly. _Ginny! What had happened to Ginny!_ His scar was prickling madly and he clutched at his sweat soaked pyjama top, his hands brushing the locket that was beneath.

"Adam," he heard a voice from out of the dark.

"Ginny!" Adam asked frantically. "Is that you, Ginny?"

"Adam, it's me," Ginny replied, suddenly flicking the lamp on and then moving to sit next to him on the bed. "You look awful, are you alright?"

"I..." Adam rambled, his voice trembling. "I thought you were dead. But you're not, you're not."

Ginny took his hand and cuddled up against him. "I'm here, Adam. I'm fine. I'm not going anywhere."

_She's okay, she's okay!_ Adam chanted silently to himself, as he put his arm around her and tried to calm his racing heart.

"What was it?" Ginny asked softly. "Was..." she hesitated. "Was it a vision?"

"I..." Adam stuttered, shaking his head. "I don't know..."

Adam suddenly felt a wave of tiredness sweep over him and he yawned widely.

"Go back to sleep," Ginny said softly, wrapping her arms around him, and gently pushing him back down onto his pillows.

"Thanks," Adam mumbled sleepily.

"For what?" Ginny replied.

"Just for being here."

"Oh, Adam. I'll always be here for you," Ginny murmured as, much to his surprise, she lay down next to him in the bed.

"Love you," Adam whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her and, as they lay there together, it wasn't long before he felt himself drifting off.

**Ginny  
September 29th 1997**

When Ginny awoke the next morning, the first thing she felt was a pair of arms wrapped around her middle. She immediately tensed. _What's going on? I was supposed to be on guard duty!_

Then, she relaxed. _It's only Adam_, she remembered in relief. _I climbed into bed with Adam last night._ That particular thought made her face flush with heat and she felt, only for a minute, that she was doing something wrong.

_Well,_ Ginny thought stubbornly. _Mum probably wouldn't approve, but we're not doing anything wrong._

As she lay there, she heard Adam murmur slightly and tighten his arms around her. She could now feel the rise and fall of his chest, which was pressed up against her back. He seemed to be still sleeping. Ginny tried to turn slightly to get more comfortable but, in the process, her arms brushed against the Horcrux that Adam was still wearing and she felt herself involuntarily flinch.

"Huh?" Adam groaned suddenly.

Ginny sighed, feeling annoyed with herself. She'd woken him up.

"Morning," Ginny said, wriggling slightly so she could try to turn and face him.

"Ginny," Adam said, releasing his grip on her. "What?"

Now that Adam no longer had his arms wrapped around her she was able to turn over under the blankets. When she came face to face with Adam, she saw he had a goofy grin on his face.

"Hi," Ginny said, smiling back at him.

"Hi," Adam replied. "Err..." he hesitated. "I should get up."

Ginny leaned forward and kissed him. "Let's stay here for a while," she continued with a grin.

"Are–" Adam began, his face flushing bright red. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Ginny replied, wrapping her arms around him. "This is nice."

Adam wrapped his arms around her and pulled Ginny towards him so their bodies were pressed together.

"Mmm," Ginny sighed. "Are you feeling better?"

Adam eyes suddenly widened. "Yeah..." he replied. "Th-Thanks for last night."

"It's no problem," Ginny said, cuddling up against him.

"I–" Adam began hesitantly. "I thought you were dead."

"It was just a bad dream," Ginny replied soothingly. "I'm fine. I'm here."

Adam tightened his arms around her, almost to the point where he was squeezing her. "I know."

They lay there for several minutes, enjoying the close contact between the two of them. They seemed to have been arguing more and more recently and this was a lovely change. She never doubted that she loved Adam, but sometimes he could be so _infuriating_.

Nearly an hour later, Ginny heard her stomach rumble.

Adam burst out in laughter. "I guess I need to feed you, eh?"

"Feed me?" Ginny replied with a giggle. "Damn right you do."

Adam chortled to himself and then, slightly reluctantly, they disentangled themselves from each other and climbed out of bed.

As Adam headed for the kitchen, Ginny slipped into the bathroom. When she had finished, she went to help him with their breakfast.

"Adam, Do you–" Ginny began hesitantly, as she bustled around the kitchen. "Do you ever think about just running away?"

"What?" Adam answered in a harsh tone, suddenly turning from where he was working at the stove. "No. I can't believe you'd ask that."

"No!" Ginny exclaimed. "I didn't mean it, seriously."

Adam sighed. "It would never work. He'll never stop hunting me. If we ran away we'd be looking over our shoulders every day for the rest of our lives."

"Yeah..." Ginny replied hesitantly. The two of bustled about the kitchen for several minutes before Ginny finally ventured. "So, what do we do next?"

"Oh!" Adam said, raising his voice. "Don't start again! I don't know, all right! I just don't know!"

"Adam, I know you don't know what to do," Ginny began, feeling her own anger growing, "but we have some ideas. We could..."

"Do you know what I saw last night?" Adam interrupted her in a venomous tone, once again rubbing his scar. "I saw your grave! Next to the graves of everyone else who's ever died because of me!"

"It was just a dream, Adam!" Ginny shouted, stepping forward and poking him in the chest. "We can't just sit here and do nothing."

Adam glared at her for second, then he seemed to stoop over, as if a great weight had suddenly been placed on his shoulders and he clutched at the locket.

"I see what you're saying, Ginny," Adam said in a voice that sounded completely defeated. "You can go if you want. If you want to go I won't stop you," he sighed. "Go, Ginny. Just go," he suddenly heaved in a big breath. "At least then I won't get you killed."

Ginny stared at Adam, completely appalled at what he had just said. _How could he think she would ever leave him?_ Then, suddenly, as she watched him standing there with a distressed expression on his face but with a hard look in his eyes, it all clicked in place. The Horcrux.

Coming to an instant decision, Ginny strode forward and, before he had chance to resist, she grabbed the chain of the locket, pulled it back around his head and placed it around her own neck. She fought down the sense of revulsion she felt as the Horcrux touched her skin. This was for Adam.

"I'm not leaving," she said emphatically. "And this is affecting you, so I'm wearing it for a while."

The affect on Adam seemed to be almost instantaneous. It was as if a weight was suddenly lifted from his shoulders. He paused for a second, as if deep in thought.

"Oh, Ginny!" Adam exclaimed, grabbing her in a fierce hug. "I'm sorry I doubted you! I know you're not going to leave."

"I know, Adam," Ginny replied. "I think the Horcrux was affecting you."

"Thank you, Ginny," Adam said, still holding her close. "If you left.."

"I wouldn't," Ginny replied.

They stood there for a minute with their arms wrapped around each other.

"You were right," Adam blurted suddenly. "We need to go to Godric's Hollow. I still don't want to go, but it's either that or Hogwarts. We can't just sit here anymore doing nothing."

"Okay," Ginny replied, releasing Adam from the hug. "I think part of that was the locket though."

Adam nodded, and then suddenly turned and bolted back over to the stove.

"Oh, Ginny," Adam said.

"What?"

"The bacon's burnt."  
**  
Adam  
October 3rd 1997**

It had taken them far longer to get to Godric's Hollow than Adam had thought. As he had never been there before, well not that he could remember, they couldn't Apparate, so they had to make their way to the small village using Muggle transport. It had been a long journey, taking them practically back to Devon in almost the reverse of the journey Ginny had taken when fleeing The Burrow.

The taxi dropped Adam and Ginny in the village square. By the time they'd arrived it was late afternoon and the sky was filled with a glorious orange glow. Immediately after they'd left the taxi and the Muggle man driving it had driven off, they ducked out of sight and threw the cloak over themselves. Even though they were both heavily disguised, Adam didn't want to take any chances. This time, much to Ginny's amusement, Adam was currently sporting Weasley red hair and Ginny had black hair.

"So this is the place," Ginny said in a soft voice, as she looked around the square.

Adam shrugged in response. "I've never really been here. I was far too young."

They cuddled together under the cloak, with Adam crouching slightly, so no part of their bodies were visible. Once they were confident that they couldn't be seen they made their way around the square.

They passed the pub, a grocers and another small shop, before finally reaching the church.

"I think," Adam whispered hesitantly, "I think this is where the graves are."

"You want to take a look around?" Ginny questioned anxiously.

Adam nodded in response, and the two of them made their way into the churchyard.

"There's so many," Adam said with a sigh. "We should split up, you stay under the cloak. They haven't seen me in a disguise yet, so I'll chance it, but keep an eye out."

"Adam..." Ginny began hesitantly.

"It'll take us ages to find them shuffling around under the cloak. The sooner we're out of here the sooner we can check the house," Adam responded, and before Ginny could object again he ducked out from the under the cloak.

"Let's stay within eyesight of each other then," Ginny requested in frustration.

"Okay," Adam responded. "You start here and I'll start on the other side."

Ginny nodded her agreement, and they spread out and started searching the graveyard.

As Adam walked through the headstones, he shuddered. There was an eerie similarity between this graveyard and the one from his dream. _But surely all graveyards look similar_, Adam tried to reason with himself._ It's just a coincidence._

Shaking himself, Adam continued to trudge between the gravestones, checking the name on each one in turn. He saw several names that he recognised including one Abbot.

It wasn't until he had been checking gravestones for some time that he found one stone that made him stop. Adam stood there frozen in shock, as he stared down at a very recently planted headstone of pure white marble.

_Albus Dumbledore_

Professor Dumbledore was buried here. Slowly, Adam sank to his knees and placed his hand on the headstone. His feelings about Dumbledore were still strangely mixed. He felt very little anger any more for the secrets the man had kept from him, but he still felt an irrational sense of betrayal towards him as well. Dumbledore had made him part of the quest to defeat Voldemort and then died; leaving it all to him. He had trained Adam, but he hadn't given him enough training, he hadn't given him enough information on the Horcruxes. Adam couldn't believe how angry he felt at Professor Dumbledore for dying. Surely he should be sad that Dumbledore had died, not angry? But, despite all of this, Adam actually missed the man.

Adam gave a short strangled laugh. "Adam, you are Harry Potter."

Shaking himself, Adam stood up from the graveside and, looking at the nearby graves, he noticed that there were other Dumbledores buried here.

_Kendra Dumbledore and her daughter Adriana_

"Adam!" A voice called to him, disturbing him from his examination of the Dumbledores' graves.

Ginny was waving frantically at him from only two rows away.

_She's found them! And why has she taken the cloak off!_

Adam took off at a run across the graveyard, soon reaching his girlfriend.

"Adam, they're here," she said softly, a sad look stricken across her now pale face.

Adam looked down at the grave, feeling as if a weight was suddenly pressing down on his chest.

_James Potter, born 27 March 1960,_  
_died 31 October 1981_  
_Lily Potter, born 30 January 1960,_  
_died 31 October 1981_  
_Harry Potter, born 31 July 1980,_  
_died 31 October 1981_

_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death._

Once again, Adam sank to his knees and ran his hands over the gravestone.

"Wow..." he said in a strangled voice.

"I..." Ginny added, in a voice that suddenly sounded very scared. "I _hate _seeing your name there."

"I know," Adam replied, getting to his feet and hugging her. He felt himself strengthened tremendously by the simple fact that Ginny was here and he could hold her.

"We should come back someday and rub out your name," Ginny stated, smiling slightly before falling silent.

"What do you think that last line means?" Adam choked out eventually, breaking the silence.

"I think it means they believed in the afterlife," Ginny responded. "Well, that's what I think anyway."

"But they're dead aren't they?" Adam asked, finally beginning to get some control back. "They're down there, in the ground."

"I..." Ginny began hesitantly. "Mum always told us that they were up there," she said pointing to the sky. "Looking down at us and I bet your parents are watching you. They loved you so much there's no way they wouldn't be watching."

Adam stared at the gravestone, taking deep breaths to calm himself. He felt Ginny take his hand and give it a squeeze.

"I..." Adam began, feeling at a complete loss at the intensity of his feelings. "I never thought it would be this _hard_. I never knew them, why am I feeling like this?"

Ginny didn't respond, she didn't need to. She simply rested her head on his shoulder.

Adam wrenched his eyes away from the grave to stare at Ginny, suddenly feeling a rush of different feelings wash over him, pushing away the feeling of sadness and despair.

"Let's go," Adam said, suddenly feeling that he wanted nothing else now than to get out of here.

"Adam," Ginny added softly. "Do you want to visit Sirius and Remus' graves, they're just over here."

"Oh," Adam said, feeling completely torn inside. He didn't really want to see the graves, but when he thought about not paying his respects to the Marauders he felt wracked with guilt.

"Come on," Ginny said encouragingly, gently pulling him towards a further two gravestones.

Ginny led him along the row of graves until he stood next to the two that belonged to Remus and Sirius. He stood there for a while, simply staring at them, staring at the graves of his father's best friends who had both died protecting him. A few minutes later a sniffle shook him out of his funk.

He turned to look and was shocked to see a few tears making their way down Ginny's cheek.

_Adam, you absolute arse!_ He thought. _You're not the only one who misses them._

He quickly pulled Ginny into a hug.

"I'm fine," she said. "I'm fine, I'm not crying."

"Oh, Ginny," Adam replied. "I miss them, too."

"I..." Ginny began. "I completely forgot! I wonder if Tonks has had her baby yet."

"I don't know," Adam began, suddenly feeling another surge of guilt. "I should know! I'm supposed to be its godfather!"

"I didn't mean to make you feel guilty," Ginny responded, still clinging to him. "We couldn't know. There's no way we could. Once this is all over, we'll go and meet him or her."

"Yeah..." Adam said, smiling slightly at the thought.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Ginny asked, stepping away from him, but still holding his hand.

"Oh..." Adam began. "Yes, please."

Hand in hand, the two of them walked back towards the entrance to the churchyard. As they walked through the church grounds they passed an elderly couple walking down the path towards the church.

"The cloak!" Adam exclaimed. "Where is it? What are we doing like this is in the open?"

Ginny, who had paled slightly, quickly pulled out the cloak and the two of them were quickly hidden beneath it. Once hidden, the two of them left through the gate and sat down just outside with their backs against the wall.

"I still want to try and find the house," Adam said as he leaned his head on the cool stone. "If that's alright with you?"

"Of course," Ginny replied, then, after a short pause she continued. "I know it has all these bad memories for you, but for some reason I think the village is really nice."

"Yeah," Adam continued thoughtfully. "That might be why my parents came here..."

They sat there in silence for several minutes, until, finally, Ginny said. "Right. Let's go. Do you know the way?"

"No," Adam said with a sigh. "I..."

"Well," Ginny interrupted with a grin before he could finish. "I guess we'll have to go exploring then."

Adam couldn't help but smile back at her as they stood up and began making their way across square. As they approached the war memorial that dominated the centre of the square, Adam froze. As he watched, the obelisk seemed to shimmer and it changed.

Based on Ginny's sudden inhalation of breath, Adam guessed she was seeing the same thing as him. In front of him was a statue. A statue of a man, a woman and a baby. It was him. His family.

"Oh..." Ginny finally said. "I didn't know about this."

"Me neither," Adam replied.

"They look happy," Ginny commented with a smile.

Adam just stood there staring at the statue. It seemed so strange that someone had put up a statue for his parents... and well, him.

"Come on," Adam said, tearing his eyes away from the statue. "Let's look around for the house."  
The two of them spent nearly an hour exploring Godric's Hollow before they found the house. In the end, however, it was relatively easy to spot. It was the only ruined building in the village and, once he'd seen it, Adam knew that this was where his parents had died.

Adam paused for a second. Then, dragging Ginny with him, he moved quickly forward until he was standing at the gate that led up to the cottage. As he placed he hands on the gate, a sign sprang up in front of them, emerging from a tangle of weeds just beyond the gate.

_On this spot, on the night of 31 October 1981, Lily, James and Harry Potter lost their lives.  
Together, this family defeated the darkest wizard this world has ever known.  
This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters and as a reminder of the violence that destroyed their family._

  
Well, that was what Adam thought it had originally said. Several people seemed to have written over the sign. Someone had crossed out his name. Someone else had scrawled, _'You survived!_' Several others had written '_Go, Harry!_' '_Where are you, Harry?_' and '_Harry is the boy who lived!_'

"Wow," Ginny said, then suddenly she giggled. "Someone has the right idea, crossing your name out like that."

Adam snorted in response. "It's brilliant. I didn't realise people thought that about me."

"Adam," Ginny began, then she paused. "Harry, rightly or wrongly you're a hero to them."

"But..."

"Well," Ginny continued. "Harry Potter is a hero, and you're Harry Potter. So, you're a hero."

"I'm not!"

"You are. You're my hero anyway."

Adam turned beneath the cloak to stare at his girlfriend. Her face was scrunched up as she tried desperately not to laugh.

"Sorry," Ginny squeaked in a high pitched giggle. "That was so corny."

Adam laughed freely in response, wrapped his arms around her and they stood there for several seconds simply holding each other.

"Adam," Ginny suddenly whispered urgently, bringing his attention back to the here and now. "Don't move. There's a woman coming down the street."

Adam stood very still. From his current position he couldn't see the woman, but he trusted Ginny to decide if they needed to take action or just stay hidden.

"I think she's a Muggle." Ginny described her to him by whispering directly into his ear. "She's stopped and is just staring up the lane. Maybe she heard us?"

"Don't know," Adam responded in a whisper. "Let's wait and see what she does."

Adam waited in silence as Ginny watched the woman. Suddenly, Adam felt Ginny tense suddenly in his arms, before relaxing a few nervy seconds later.

Ginny breathed a sigh of relief and eventually spoke. "She's gone. But I think she's a witch. I'm _sure_ she looked at the house over the hedge before she left."

"Do you think she saw us?" Adam said, breaking their hug and turning to look down the now empty lane.

"How could she?" Ginny responded. "We're under the cloak."

"Right." Adam replied. "Let's get in the house..." Adam froze, suddenly unsure if he should actually go inside, but, shaking himself, realising he had to. "We've got a job to do. Let's take a look around."

Steeling himself, Adam slipped out from under the cloak and climbed over the gate, with Ginny following. Once they were over, they retreated once more under the safety of the cloak and began walking up the path.

As they approached the house, Adam stared at the ruined structure. It was a complete ruin; one entire side of the house had collapsed, and the roof of the rest of the building had caved in as long tendrils of ivy crept up the side of it into the roof cavity. It was as if nature itself sought to crush the house into the ground.

Adam and Ginny made a beeline to the hole where the front door would once have been and, taking a deep breath, Adam stepped over the threshold into the house.

Once inside, he gazed around the house that had been his home, not that he could remember it, and, surprisingly, he felt nothing. He stood there, staring around the ruined living room.

"We should be safe enough," Adam announced, pulling off the cloak. "Let's spread out and search downstairs."

Ginny nodded at him, and the two of them spread out and began searching the house room by room. The downstairs of the small cottage consisted of a hallway, kitchen and a large living room. The entire place was coated in dust, partly from disuse and partly from debris that had fallen from the ceiling in several places.

As Adam scoured the living room, he was surprised to find no traces of anything that appeared to have belonged to his parents. Sure, all the furniture was there, but there were nothing much else. Truth be told, Adam didn't exactly know what he had been expecting to find, but he had expected to find _something_.

"Anything?" He called across to the room to Ginny.

"No," she replied, from where she was searching a large cupboard. "It's like someone has been here and taken anything of significance."

"Yeah..." Adam replied. "I'm not feeling anything either."

"Same here," Ginny continued. "Who'd you think would come and take your parent's things?"

"Dumbledore," Adam answered immediately. Then, pausing to think, he added, "Or maybe Remus."

"So," Ginny said with a heavy sigh. "We've no way now to really find out."

Adam stood still for a second, thinking. "Well," he continued finally. "It's hardly important right now. Let's check the kitchen."

"I looked, Adam, it's ruined," Ginny said, standing up from where she was searching, her face now smudged with dust.

They both trotted over to the entrance of the kitchen and stared at the ruins. Large beams had crashed down, crushing the units and preventing any hope of them entering the room.

"I..." Adam began. "I don't think there is anything in there anyway. I..." he hesitated. "I don't _feel_ anything."

"That's it, then," Ginny answered. "We need to go upstairs."

They moved to the staircase hesitantly and feeling almost as if he were trespassing, Adam climbed the stairs.

At the top of the stairs, there were three doorways. Two were closed and the third seemed to open out into open air. He looked out of the doorway of what once must have been his nursery and, for the first time, he could understand why everyone thought he had died. He stepped out onto the narrow ledge that was all that was left of the floor and looked around. There was nothing left of the room. The external walls had been blasted away and the floor in front of him had crumbled down into the kitchen below. There was nothing left. Absolutely nothing.

"Ginny!" Adam called, suddenly aware that she was not at his side.

"I'm coming!" she called back.

Adam backed carefully out of his room and glanced at the two other doors. He moved towards the closest one and gingerly pushed it open.

This room had once been his parent's room. The wall that joined it with his room had caved in but the rest of the room was strangely well preserved. There was a double bed, complete with bed covers, a wardrobe and a dresser.

Silently, he approached the bed and sat down on the dust covered quilt. As he sat there, staring the small room that his parents had presumably used only hours before they died, the strangest thought occurred to him; _I wonder what side Mum and Dad slept on?_

He almost laughed at the absurdity of that thought. He was here, in his parent's room and that was the best he could come up with!

Shaking himself, Adam stood up from the bed and began searching the room. He needed to look for any personnel effects of his parents and, more importantly, any signs of the Horcrux.

He had just started looking through the wardrobe when Ginny screamed.

Thoughts of searching for his parent's things or the Horcrux immediately flew from his mind and Adam charged out of the bedroom and back down the stairs. As he leapt down the first few steps, he bowled into Ginny who was coming the other way up the stairs.

"Sorry! Sorry!" She exclaimed, seemingly in a wild panic. "I saw him, I saw him and I couldn't help it! And now he knows we're here."

"What!" Adam exclaimed, pulling Ginny up the stairs onto the landing.

"Voldemort's here! I saw him coming up the path!" Ginny exclaimed frantically, looking completely terrified.

Adam stared at Ginny, and both of them were, for a second, frozen in horror.

_I can't face Voldemort now!_ Adam thought frantically. _We don't have all the Horcruxes. He'll kill Ginny and me. Then no one will be able to stop him._

Grabbing Ginny around the waist, he spun on the spot, but nothing happened.

_No, no, no!_ Adam thought despairingly. Voldemort had them trapped.

"What's the matter?" Ginny cried desperately.

"We need to run for it!" Adam ordered and, coming to a snap decision, he pulled Ginny towards the doorway to his nursery.

"Down there, then?" Ginny commented, staring at the hole in the wall of house.

Before Adam could answer, Ginny leapt agilely onto one of the beams that had fallen below. Adam quickly followed, landing on the beam with a slight stumble. Thankfully, Ginny reached out and clasped his arms, helping him to regain his balance.

"Thanks," Adam muttered. "Let's get the hell out of here."

The two of them clambered across the wreckage until they reached the outer wall of the cottage.

"Okay," Adam said, clasping Ginny's hand. "Ready?"

"Ready."

They jumped, both landing hard on the ground and, helping each other to their feet, they took off across the rubble-strewn garden.

"Run, Potter. Was it too much to hope that you would stand and face me? Don't you want revenge for your parents?" A high-pitched eerie voice, that Adam was only too familiar with, echoed across the garden. His scar throbbed and he vaguely heard Ginny emit a cry, as Voldemort called out for his snake. "_Nagini, come!_"

Voldemort's cold voice seemed to echo through him, making his body freeze up. The sound of the voice, coupled with the pain in his scar made his mind sluggish. Suddenly, every fibre of his being was calling him out to stay and fight. He spun around. He had to fight Voldemort. He'd killed his parents, Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore and countless others.

The sight of a ball of green light sailing towards him and Ginny shook him free of the spell that seemed to temporarily hold him entranced. He pushed Ginny, and himself, out of the path of the spell, shielding her body with his. The green light of the Killing Curse impacted only feet away from him, causing the ground to explode is a shower of rock and earth.

Once he hit the ground, Adam immediately drew his wand and shouted. "_Expulso!_" Sending a spell in the vague direction of Voldemort.

He watched as the spell sailed towards Voldemort who, without even looking at it, seemed to absorb it with a shimmering shield and laugh.

With the laughter came pain. Far worse than last time. It forced Adam's eyes closed and its intensity, and the fact that it seemed to be coming from inside his head, began to drive away his awareness of the outside world.

"_Avada Kedavra_!" A voice shouted.

Adam tried to react. He couldn't. The pain was too much. He was vaguely aware that if the spell hit him; then at least the pain would stop.

Just when he thought the pain was going to stop, his arm moved. It moved completely of its own accord, as if driven by some external force.

"No!" The voice cried in fury and a loud _crack _sounded.

The sound was so loud that Adam's ears rang for moment, and the pain relented.

The pain retreated and Adam became aware of his surrounds once more. He felt himself being pulled to his feet. His vision swam back into focus and he was greeted by the sight of Ginny's face.

"Adam!" She cried, trying to rouse him. "I can't carry you on my own. Whatever you did sent him flying back into house. We need to go _now!_"

"Right," Adam said dazedly. "Right."

He let go of her and stumbled slightly, his body feeling clunky. Quickly recovering, he noticed that Ginny was cradling her hand; she must have injured it in the fall.

"I'm fine!" She answered hotly. "Let's go, before he comes back!"

As quickly as they could, Adam and Ginny ran towards the edge of the garden. All they had to do was get to the edge of whatever spell Voldemort had used to stop them Apparating, then they would be safe.

**October 4th 1998**

_"You told me the problem would be solved by using another's wand!"_

An emaciated old man lay in rags upon a stone floor, screaming, a horrible, drawn-out scream, a scream of unendurable agony. He could see others standing around. Others watching this man suffer.

"No! No! I beg you, I beg you. …"

"You lied to Lord Voldemort, Ollivander!"

"I did not … I swear I did not …"

"You sought to help Potter, to help him escape me!"

"I swear I did not … I believed a different wand would work …"

"Explain, then, what happened. Lucius's wand is destroyed!"

"I cannot understand … The connection … exists only … between your two wands …"

"Lies!"

"Please … I beg you …"

The frail old man on the floor writhed in agony.

"Adam! Wake up! Wake up!" Ginny's exclamation pulled him from the final stages of the dream.

Adam grunted softly as the dark room of the tent began to materialise around him.

"Wha–?" He grunted sleepily.

Ginny's face swam into view as she leaned over. "You were thrashing about, I could hear you from outside," she hesitated. "Another vision?"

"Yeah..." Adam said, then his stomach roiled, as it often did after these strange out-of-body trips he seemed to take, and he dashed out of the bedroom to promptly throw up in the sink.

By the time he was finished, Ginny was sitting waiting for him on the sofa. She too was looking pale and tired. With an exhausted sigh, Adam sat down next to her.

"Better?" She asked cautiously.

"Think so," Adam replied.

"Good," Ginny replied, pulling herself up off the seat. "I'll just go get you a drink of water."

"They were torturing Ollivander," Adam blurted.

"What?" Ginny called back from where she was filling two glasses with water.

"I saw him being tortured," Adam explained haltingly. "I think." He paused. "Ollivander told him that if he used a different wand the effect of the brother wands wouldn't work."

"Well," Ginny replied. "That makes sense."

"He wasn't using his own wand today... " Adam continued, glancing at the clock. "Err... yesterday."

"So what was all that gold stuff that came out of your wand?" Ginny asked, finally plopping back down beside him.

"No idea, Ollivander didn't seem to know and that was where you woke me up."

"Sorry..." Ginny added meekly.

"No." Adam replied firmly. "Never apologise for bringing me back from those. I _hate_ them."

Ginny smiled tiredly at this and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"The other Death Eaters were there. Snape, too, I think," Adam replied. "I could only just make out their faces," he chuckled. "But you can hardly miss Snape's greasy hair anyway."

"Mmm," Ginny replied sleepily, she wound one arm around his waist while the other seemed to be playing with one of the lockets she was currently wearing beneath her clothes. "Hogwarts is the only place left to check now isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Adam replied. "Dumbledore was wrong. We still have two to find and only one place left to check..."

"We'll find them," Ginny replied.

"He's going to keep looking for a wand that can beat mine," Adam said morosely. "If he ever finds one and fights me directly. He'll..." he stopped speaking shocked at what he was about to say.

"Don't say that!" Ginny exclaimed, all traces of sleep now gone from her voice. "Don't even think it! He won't beat you. I won't let him take you away from me."

Adam sat there in silence. Suddenly their hunt seemed all the more an impossible task.

"Anyway," Ginny began, breaking the silence. "At least if we end up going to Hogwarts we'll have allies. Ron, Neville and the DA will help us. Not to mention McGonagall."

"She doesn't know Harry Potter," Adam replied, grabbing a tuft of his black hair in his hand.

"No." Ginny answered, sounding slightly exasperated with him. "But she'll do anything for Adam. Show her who you are and she'll do everything she can for us. Going to Hogwarts may be dangerous, but it's not impossible. Remember, we have the Marauders Map."


	10. Chapter 9

**Ron  
October 4th 1997**

"Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall said, suddenly appearing behind him as he sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

"Professor!" Ron exclaimed, jumping and immediately turning away from his breakfast.

"Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall repeated. "I trust you are finished with your breakfast?"

"Err..." Ron hesitated, throwing a longing look at the fourth piece of toast he'd had his eye on. "I guess so."

"Then would you follow me?" Professor McGonagall replied, raising her voice slightly. "We need to discuss your falling marks in my office."

"But..." Ron exclaimed. Surely his marks were as good as could be expected given the state of the school. He would have thought McGonagall would understand that.

"Don't argue with me, Mr. Weasley," she interrupted him. "Now follow me."

Feeling completely baffled, Ron followed the Professor to her office. Once they were inside, she closed the door, cast a spell and, finally, seemed to relax.

"Mr. Weasley," she began. "I hope you will forgive my subterfuge and be pleased to learn that your marks are currently acceptable."

"But..." Ron said weakly. If his marks were acceptable, why had he been dragged into Professor McGonagall's office?

"Mr. Weasley, please relax and take a seat," Professor McGonagall said, gesturing to one of the chairs near her desk. "I needed an excuse to bring you to see me in private. There is a matter I need to discuss with you and it wouldn't do for certain," she paused, "persons at the school to the know about our conversation. In case you haven't noticed, I'm no longer _allowed _to deal with disciplinary matters outside of my classroom, so I had to make it seem as if it was to do with my class."

Still feeling somewhat baffled, Ron took a seat in front of the Professor's desk and, once he was seated, Professor McGonagall continued softly. "I've heard that you and your friends have been looking out for the younger students."

Ron immediately tensed. _Did she know about the DA?_

"Mr. Weasley... Ron, relax. Naturally, the school's current authorities are largely unaware of your actions but I just wanted to tell you how proud I am that you and your friends have stepped up when the staff could not."

"T-Thanks, Professor," Ron replied hesitantly. "Err...If that's all, can I go?"

Professor McGonagall sighed in response. "In a minute, Mr. Weasley. There is some information I need you to pass onto your friends," she paused. "Discretely of course."

"What, Professor?" Ron replied, suddenly feeling a burst of excitement at the prospect of new information.

"In a few weeks, the Carrows will begin teaching the new compulsory Muggle studies course. It will be, of course, be filled with lies but some Pureblood students, especially the younger ones, are extremely impressionable and I cannot bear the thought of a young witch or wizard believing the lies that will be taught in that class."

"But..." Ron began. "What can I do?"

"Snape is watching me closely," Professor McGonagall replied with a tight smile. "If he was in the school now he would already have been here to check on us," she paused. "I cannot correct the lies that will spread by the Carrows myself, but you, Mr. Weasley, even though you are a Pureblood, have been friends with Muggle-borns for years and will stand a much better chance of achieving this. Will you help me?"

"Of course!" Ron replied eagerly.

"Thank you," McGonagall replied, looking relieved. "We must all do what we can to oppose the current regime."

"Er, Professor," Ron asked hesitantly. "What exactly is happening? You know, in the outside world. All we hear is what they put in the Prophet."

Professor McGonagall hesitated for a moment and then said, "I shouldn't tell you this, but I will. I think you deserve to know." she paused. "The Order has finally accepted that with Snape's obvious betrayal, he was behind Dumbledore's death and not Adam."

"Finally!" Ron exclaimed. His friend was cleared!

"Don't get too excited, the fact that the Order has accepted it means little in the grand scheme of things. The Ministry's view remains that Adam is responsible for Albus' death."

"But the Ministry is basically controlled by You-Know-Who right now, aren't they?"

"Correct," Professor McGonagall replied. "However, what the Ministry say is still believed by many witches and wizards across the country," she paused, smiling slightly. "Even so, it seems that Adam is helping us in the fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Yeah," Ron replied. "Him, Harry and Ginny."

"It was _despicable _what the Ministry did to your sister," Professor McGonagall added. "You do know they did it only because she and Adam did everything together?"

"Yeah," Ron answered. "It doesn't take a genius to figure that out," Ron paused, both of them sitting in silence for several seconds before he finally ventured. "Was there anything else, Professor?"

"Actually, yes there was," Professor McGonagall replied. "Do you have any way of contacting Harry Potter?"

"No," Ron answered immediately. Then he froze. The DA Galleon! But they had been using it all year and there had been no sign that Harry was receiving those messages. Hermione had made the coins and he had no idea how close together they had to be to work. Harry was probably much too far away. "No," he repeated, trying to make it sound like a more definite answer. "Why?"

"The Ministry attempted to seize his vault at Gringotts."

"What!" Ron exclaimed.

"The Goblins did not allow them access to the vault and it has caused significant tension between the bank and the Ministry, but it might be somewhat awkward if he were to return to his vault anytime soon. I–" she hesitated. "If you are able to get a message to him, will you tell him to stay away from Gringotts, at least for now."

"I will," Ron replied. "But I really don't have any way to contact him."

"I understand," Professor McGonagall replied. "You can go now, Ron, if you want."

"O-Okay," Ron answered and rose to his feet. "Thanks, Professor. It's good to know that you're trying to help."

"Of course, I am," Professor McGonagall replied. "I may not be able to do much, but if you ever need anything, or if it all becomes too much, you can always come to me."

"Thanks," Ron replied, hoping that things wouldn't get so bad that he would need to take her up on the offer.

With the conversation seemingly finished, Ron walked back towards the door.

"Mr. Weasley!" Professor McGonagall called from her desk, just as he was about to open the door. "If..." she paused. "If you see Adam or Ginny, will you," she hesitated. "Will you pass on my best wishes to them?"

"I will, Professor," Ron replied, feeling a sudden surge of emotion. Even he didn't know when he would get to see them again, if ever. _No!_ He chastised himself. _I won't think like that, they'll make it. They'll be fine._

With that, Ron let himself out of the office and paused in the corridor for a minute to collect himself. He was amazed at the conversation he'd just had with the professor.

He had a lot to tell the DA at the next meeting.

**Adam  
October 13th 1997**

As Adam woke up, he was immediately aware that Ginny was lying next to him on the bed, seemingly watching him sleep.

"Ginny?" he murmured sleepily, seeing that Ginny was already awake. "What..?"

"Morning, love," Ginny replied, giving him a kiss. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah," Adam replied, positioning himself on the bed so the two of them could lie together more comfortably. "...I think," he paused. "Have you been here all night?"

Ginny seemed to pause apprehensively for a second, and she rubbed her hands together. "You kept muttering Gregorovich over and over again," she paused. "I came in to check you were alright and I feel asleep."

"Sorry," Adam apologised immediately.

"No!" Ginny exclaimed. "You don't have anything to be sorry about," she laughed. "You're the only one who gets visions. I was worried."

"I'm fine!" Adam insisted. Then he added, "But thanks anyway."

Ginny grinned back at him. "It's my job to keep an eye on you."

A short time later, once Adam had finally succeeded in dragging Ginny out of bed, they decided to made breakfast together.

"Adam!" Ginny exclaimed when she went to grab the breakfast things from the pantry. "There's hardly anything here."

"What?" Adam called from across the kitchen. "I thought we had enough for breakfast."

"Well," Ginny replied. "We have plenty of bread, but not much else."

"Oh," Adam replied, moving so he was standing next to her. "I'll have a quick piece of toast and then I'll pop down the shops."

Adam saw Ginny's expression brighten at this. "I'll come too."

"I'll be fine, really," Adam responded. "Besides, someone should stay with the tent ... just in case."

"No," Ginny responded adamantly, standing up and putting her hands on her hips so that she looked scarily like her mother. "I want to come too."

"But..." Adam protested weakly, knowing he had already lost the argument. "Why?"

"I just do, alright?" Ginny responded bluntly.

Adam sighed. "Okay then," he couldn't understand how things seemed to deteriorate into an argument between them so quickly. "I'm sure our things will be fine."

Once they had eaten their toast, they disguised themselves, and began the journey, in silence, to the nearest shop.

"So," Adam said, still feeling slightly annoyed with her. "Here we are."

Ginny didn't answer, instead she was gazing around the supermarket with an amazed expression on her face. "I've never been to a Muggle shop this big before," she commented.

"It's called a supermarket," Adam added, quickening his pace so he was walking alongside her. Then it dawned on him and he stared at her in surprise. _Was this why she wanted to come so badly?_ _Why didn't she say anything?_ "Ginny?" he questioned shyly. "I'm sorry. I didn't realise you've never been to one of these shops before."

Ginny stopped walking and allowed Adam to pull her into a hug.

"Thanks," she said quietly. "I'm sorry, too. I hate it when we argue. We seem to be doing more of than recently," she paused, as if in thought. "Let's get the shopping."

They took their time with the shopping, wandering around the shop at a leisurely pace, picking up the things that they needed while Ginny examined, with great interest, practically everything that was on display.

"Adam," Ginny whispered as they joined the queue for the checkout. "What is that girl doing, making that thing beep?"

"Oh," Adam replied, feeling amazed, once again, at how many things about the Muggle worlds wizards were oblivious of. "She scans all the stuff, so they can quickly work out how much it costs."

"Oh, wow," Ginny said, still in a quiet voice. "Muggles are clever."

Adam laughed in response and whispered conspiratorial. "Magic is pretty amazing too."

As the queue moved, they passed a magazine rack. Adam saw Ginny's eyes immediately being drawn to one of the Muggle magazines. She picked up the magazine and began flicking through.

"Anything interesting?" He asked.

"Mmm," Ginny commented as they moved forward in the queue. "It seems that girls my age are interested in make up, boys and this guy called Will Smith."

Adam laughed in response to this, as he began to load their purchases onto the conveyor belt.

"I mean," Ginny said, looking at the magazine with a strange expression on her face. "Don't they play sports?" She lowered her voice. "Don't Muggles have something like Quidditch?"

"Well," Adam replied. "There's football, but from what I remember it was mainly the boys that played."

"Oh," Ginny continued. "Well, there's also an article here on what birthday present to get your boyfriend, based on something called a star sign."

"Um," Adam replied weakly. "Is that interesting?"

Ginny giggled suddenly. "Well, it says here that you're a Leo, oh!" she paused. "We're both the same star sign! Anyway, it says I should get you something that helps you stand out from the crowd. Well," she paused and winked at him. "At least I know for next year."

Adam looked at Ginny with a horrified expression on his face, not quite sure if she was kidding or not.

Suddenly, he realised that it was their turn at the checkout. "Ginny," Adam said. "Do you want to buy that magazine?"

"Oh," Ginny replied. "No."

"You need to go and put it back or we'll have to pay for it."

Ginny squeezed her way back up the queue that had formed at the checkout while Adam waited to pay for the shopping.

"That's £15.76 please," the assistant, a young girl not much older than Adam with long blonde hair, said once she had scanned all the items.

Adam counted out the correct money and passed it to the girl. She smiled at him and seemed to flutter her eyelids. Adam, feeling decidingly uneasy, smiled back politely.

Suddenly, before he could even pick up the shopping bags, something slammed into him, making him stagger backwards.

"How dare you!" Ginny shouted, prodding him painfully. Her eyes were blazing and her face was twisted with anger. "How dare you!"

"Ginny!" Adam founding himself squeaking in alarm. "What?"

"You were flirting with that girl!" Ginny raged. "HOW DARE YOU! After all we've been through!"

Adam, and everyone around them, stared at Ginny in shock. Then, before he could even defend himself, Ginny stormed out of the shop.

Adam just stood there in complete shock. He couldn't believe that Ginny had behaved that way. He hadn't done anything wrong! _Had he?_

Now feeling incredible uncomfortable under the stares of the other shoppers, Adam grabbed the shopping and dashed out of the shop and looked around.

There was no sign of Ginny and Adam now felt worry forming in the pit of his stomach. She had run off on her own and he now had no idea where she was. She was on her own, they were both wanted by the wizarding authorities, and she had the Horcrux on. _Oh Merlin, anything could happen to her!_

_The Horcrux!_ Adam realised with a start. _That was why she was behaving strangely. How could I have been so stupid! I forgot all about the Horcrux, I was glad to be rid of it and left Ginny to suffer!_

Feeling wretched with himself, Adam walked around the local area looking for Ginny. Hoping against hope that nothing had happened to her.

He found her twenty minutes later, sitting alone on a bench at a bus stop. She had quite obviously been crying.

As quietly as he could, Adam put down the bags of shopping and sat down next to her.

"Ginny..." Adam said tentatively. "You need to take off the Horcrux."

Ginny turned to face him, and Adam saw that the Horcrux was already in her hand.

"I know," she replied quietly, in a strained voice. Adam could still see the tracks of recent tears on her cheeks.

Adam instinctively put his arm around her and, much to his delight, Ginny responded by leaning against him.

"I'm..." Adam began.

"No!" Ginny snapped, then she sighed heavily. "I'm the one who should apologise, I don't know what I thought I saw, but I realise now it must be the Horcrux twisting how I see things. I know you wouldn't cheat on me."

"Oh, Ginny," Adam replied, his voice cracking with emotion. "I love you. I would never."

"I _know,_" Ginny responded. "I know you'd never but..." she stopped. "...I think it's similar to what happened when I drank the potion."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, when you wore the Horcrux. You were so scared that something would happen to me it paralysed you," Ginny prompted.

Adam nodded in response, feeling a surge of embarrassment at his actions when he'd been under the Horcrux's influence.

"Well, I feel the same thing and I'm terrified that something might happen to you... but also part of me is equally scared," Ginny's voice fell, so that it was barely loud enough to hear. "That you'll survive and then decide you don't want me."

"Ginny!" Adam began to protest.

"No!" Ginny responded emphatically. "My head knows that you wouldn't, but I can't seem to help it. There's a little voice inside me that says when you win you'll be famous. You could have any girl in the world. I'm," Ginny gestured to her body. "I'm... Adam, I'm not even that pretty."

"Ginny," Adam began softly. "You're _beautiful_! I love you! Maybe it's true that I could have any girl, but there's only one I want and, well, I already have her."

They sat there in silence for several minutes until, trying to get Ginny to talk again, Adam gently brushed the tears off her face.

"I wasn't crying," Ginny said with a small smile. "Honest..."

Adam grinned back at her. "We can't let this _thing_," he said, pointing derisively at the locket, "make us like this again. It's clear it affects both of us. So I say swap once a day. I'll wear it for the rest of the day and you wear it tomorrow. Deal?"

"Yes," Ginny replied, sounding more like her old self. "Hopefully we'll be able to destroy it soon."

Adam took the Horcrux from Ginny's hand and he placed it around his neck. He shuddered a bit when it touched his skin.

"Can," Ginny ventured. "Can we get back to the tent, please? I feel exhausted and I want to lie down."

"Sure," Adam replied, standing up and pulling Ginny to her feet. "We have plenty of food now, so I'll cook us something nice when we get back."

They shared out the shopping bags between them, and set of back down the street, looking for somewhere to Disapparate.  
**  
Ginny  
October 20th 1997**

Ginny stared at the village of Hogsmeade. It had been only a few months since the last time she had been to the village and it had changed beyond recognition.

They had come to Hogsmeade as part of their plan to get into Hogwarts. For today, plan A was to attempt to sneak in via the secret tunnel that Adam had used in his third year to escape Dumbledore's ban on him visiting the village. Plan B was to find out when the next Hogsmeade weekend was so they could make contact with Ron.

They had Apparated to the small cave that they had used in their fourth year for their meetings with Sirius and they had walked from there, under the cloak, down into the village.

"What have they done to the place?" Ginny asked in a quiet voice.

"I..." Adam whispered back. "It's awful."

The village seemed completely deserted. It was the middle of the day, and the streets were empty. Even when the students from the school weren't visiting, surely there should still be people around?

Worse than that, several of the buildings that had become so familiar to her over the years appeared to have been boarded up. Some even had wanted posters of the two of them displayed prominently.

It was very disconcerting to see your own face displayed on a large poster. Plus, Ginny was reasonably sure the Death Eaters had messed with their photos, making them both look slightly crazy.

As they walked down the high street, every single shop seemed to be closed: Honeydukes, Zonko's and even Gladrags. The only thing that seemed to be open was the owl post office, but when they peered inside, it too was deserted. There wasn't even anyone behind the counter.

"Even the Three Broomsticks..." Adam murmured, sounding distressed.

Ginny couldn't help but gasp. The pub looked dilapidated and run down. Several of the windows had been smashed, and the door was boarded shut with a large sign that read 'Closed'.

"What have they done?" Ginny exclaimed. "It's like everyone ran away."

"Maybe they scared them off," Adam replied in a dull tone. "Come on, I don't think those up at the school will be visiting here anytime soon. Let's check out Honeydukes."

As they walked back down the street towards Honeydukes, Ginny saw the first sign of life that she'd seen all day. She froze. Standing still in a doorway to one of the houses at the side of the street was a man wearing black robes.

Ginny and Adam stood still in the middle of the street covered by the cloak. Ginny watched as the man seemed to scan up and down the street. She fought down the sense of alarm and the visions of disaster that ran through her mind. _They hadn't seen the man as they'd walked up the street in the opposite direction! Had he been hiding? Had he seen them?_

They stood there like statues for many minutes. Still the man did not move.

"I..." Adam whispered softly, he was so close to her that she could almost feel his lips on her ear. "I don't think he's seen us. He's probably just watching the street."

They stood there for a couple more minutes and still the man didn't move.

"Let's walk, slowly," Adam continued, putting his hands on her shoulders. Ginny nodded, so the two of them crept back down the street towards Honeydukes.

When they reached the sweet shop a short time later, they saw yet another Death Eater standing right outside the Owl Post Office, which was opposite Honeydukes.

"Where did he come from?" Ginny whispered urgently. "We can't get into Honeydukes with him there."

Adam didn't answer. The two of them had no choice but to wait and hope he would leave so that they could sneak into the sweet shop.

While they waited for him to leave, Ginny and Adam moved slowly closer to the shop, until they were standing right next to the door. They would only need a few seconds to unlock the door and slip inside.

They had their chance just over fifteen minutes later. The Death Eater took one last look up and down the street then, turning on the spot, he walked back into the post office where he disappeared from sight.

Taking their chance, they moved quickly. While Adam kept his wand trained on the shop in case the Death Eater came back, Ginny cast the Unlocking Charm on the door and the two of them slipped inside.

The sight that met her eyes was heartbreaking. Ginny had many fond memories of this shop going back as far as her first visit, where she had stood in awe of the shop and all its wonders. That had been the first of many times she and Adam had shared Honeydukes sweets, although they'd had to do it back at the school as Adam wasn't allowed to come to Hogsmeade.

Now, the shop had been trashed. Sweets and broken glass were scattered on the floor, the shelves that lined the walls of the shop had been smashed and broken, and the counter seemed to have been blasted into splinters.

"Oh," Ginny exclaimed, feeling at a complete loss.

"Are they..." Adam growled, sounding like he was barely keeping his anger in check. "Are they trying to spoil everything that's nice?"

"I know," Ginny responded numbly. "That's why we have..." she hesitated. "That's why we _will_ beat him."

"Yes," Adam responded. "We will," he paused. "Now let's find that tunnel."

Still under the cloak, the two of them quickly made their way down into the cellar, opened the trapdoor that led into the tunnel, and descended into the darkness.

"_Lumos_," Ginny whispered, then, turning to look at Adam, she continued with a small smile. "It's been a while since we've been down here."

"Yeah," Adam replied.

It soon became obvious that they had both grown significantly since last time they used the tunnel back in their third year. The last time they had been down here they had both been able to stand upright. Now, Ginny had to bend over slightly in order to walk down the tunnel and Adam, who had overtaken her in height, had to hunch over even more. In the cramped conditions it was impossible to keep the cloak on, so Adam pulled it off and stuffed it into his pocket.

As they moved further down the tunnel, their hopes grew. Every step took them closer to the school and to the Horcrux that might be inside.

"We're nearly there now," Adam announced in a suddenly hopeful voice, as they approached a slight bend in the tunnel.

They quickened their pace and rounded the final bend in the tunnel where, if Ginny remembered correctly, the tunnel should soon begin to slope upwards until they reached the school. However, on the other side of the bend there was no slope up to the school. Instead they encountered a large solid wall.

Adam swore and Ginny thought for a second that he was about to punch the wall.

"They sealed it!" he exclaimed angrily.

Ginny too stared angrily at the wall, hoping that if she became angry enough, it would go away.

"And I bet if we try and blast our way through they'll know about it up in the school," Adam said, sighing heavily. "It's too dangerous to risk anyway. Snape obviously knows about this tunnel."

"And it doesn't look like the village will have anyone visiting it, at least not in its current state," Ginny added in exasperation.

"I just don't know what to do now..." Adam muttered. "The village is crawling with Death Eaters and Snape is obviously expecting us to try to get into the school..."

All Ginny could do was nod in agreement and grip Adam's hand tightly. Then, feeling both angry, disappointed and, not that she would admit it, slightly relieved that they wouldn't have to venture into the school today, Ginny led the way back down the tunnel towards Honeydukes.

Once they reached the trap door, Adam gave her a leg up and Ginny climbed up into the stock room.

"Stop where you are!" A voice called from behind her.

Ginny reacted automatically, and, without conscious thought, she spun around to face the source of the voice.

Then she froze. The man in front of her was not a cloaked Death Eater, but an older man who was standing in front of a woman who seemed to be the same age as him. Suddenly she realised who these people were. The owners of Honeydukes! They must think she was a Death Eater!

Before she could say anything to reassure them, Adam shot up out of the trapdoor with his wand drawn and Ginny saw the elderly couple flinch backwards.

"No!" Ginny exclaimed, both to Adam and the couple. "We're not your enemies! We won't hurt you!"

Ginny watched as Adam turned to face her with an unsure expression on his face, but she knew he would trust her to know what she was doing.

"I..." Ginny began, searching for the right words. "I'm sorry we broke in. My name is Ginny Weasley and this is A.." she paused. "This is Harry Potter. We were trying to get into the school."

"You..." The man began hesitantly, in a very faint voice. "You're not Death Eaters?"

"No," Ginny responded. "It's all lies," she forced a smile on her face. "I don't know if you remember, but I used to come into the shop when I was at school. All my brothers, too."

"I..." the woman spoke hesitantly. "I remember you. You were always such a polite girl."

Adam snorted with slight laughter at this comment.

As the four of them stared at each other, the man slowly began to lower his wand. In turn, Ginny did the same and finally, after a poke from her, Adam followed.

"So," the man began, sounding much more like the confident happy man that used to work behind the Honeydukes counter. "I can't believe it...Harry Potter. I knew you couldn't have joined them."

Adam suddenly began looking extremely uncomfortable.

"We," Ginny began, trying to save Adam from the embarrassment. "We can't stay long, but," she hesitated. "What happened to the place?"

"Well," the man began, suddenly sounding very tired. "When they cancelled all the school visits."

"Cancelled?" Adam blurted suddenly.

"Yeah," the man replied sadly. "They're keeping the kids locked in that school like prisoners. So without the school visits the Death Eaters came around and closed all the shops down, trashed them pretty well in the process." He sighed, but then his expression suddenly hardened. "Many of the others just packed up and left, but this place isn't just our shop, it's our home and I'm not going to let them have it."

Ginny stared, feeling a new sense of respect for the man. He looked fairly old, and she didn't know how well he could fight, but he was still going to stay and defend his home.

"Are there people out there fighting these Death Eaters?" The man continued. "I remember the last war, Dumbledore led the fight then, but now," he seemed to hesitate. "Well, he's not around anymore is he?"

"There are people fighting," Adam answered. "And we're doing our part, too."

"Was that why you were trying to use the tunnel?"

Adam nodded. "They've sealed it up. So we were..."

"No. Don't tell me," he interrupted. "It's best that I don't know and we won't be telling anyone you were here. You can count on that."

"Thanks," Ginny smiled in response. "We'll be on our way then."

"You can Apparate from in here," the man supplied. "They haven't locked down the village that tightly yet."

At the news that they would easily be able to Apparate out, Ginny felt Adam move to her side and they linked arms.

"Ah," the woman said, just as they were about to Disapparate. "Before you go, do you need anything? Drink? Food?"

"No, thanks," Adam replied. "But, thank you and best of luck. If only there were more people like you who are prepared to stand up to the Death Eaters."

Then, taking one last look at the couple, Ginny felt the pull of Apparition as Adam carried the two of them back to their hiding place.

**Adam  
October 21st 1997**

_"Give it to me, Gregorovitch."_

His voice was high, clear, and cold, his wand held in front of him by a long-fingered white hand. The man at whom he was pointing was suspended upside down in midair. Though there were no ropes holding him he swung there, invisibly and eerily bound, his limbs wrapped about him, his terrified face, on a level with his own, ruddy due to the blood that had rushed to his head. He had pure-white hair and a thick, bushy beard: a trussed-up Father Christmas.

"I have it not, I have it no more! It was, many years ago, stolen from me!"

"Do not lie to Lord Voldemort, Gregorovitch. He knows. … He always knows."

The hanging man's pupils were wide, dilated with fear, and they seemed to swell, bigger and bigger until their blackness swallowed him whole.

Then he was hurrying along a dark corridor in stout little Gregorovitch's wake as he held a lantern aloft: Gregorovitch burst into the room at the end of the passage and his lantern illuminated what looked like a workshop; wood shavings and gold gleamed in the swinging pool of light, and there on the window ledge sat perched, like a giant bird, a young man with golden hair. In the split second that the lantern's light illuminated him, Harry saw the delight upon his handsome face, then the intruder shot a Stunning Spell from his wand and jumped neatly backward out of the window with a crow of laughter.

And then he was hurtling back out of those wide, tunnel-like pupils and Gregorovitch's face was stricken with terror.

"Who was the thief, Gregorovitch?" said the high cold voice.

"I do not know, I never knew, a young man — no — please — PLEASE!"

A scream that went on and on only to be stopped by a burst of green light.

Adam shot upright in his bed like a coiled spring, only to find himself staring straight into Ginny's eyes.

She was sitting on a chair next to his bed and he could see she had a worried expression on her face.

"Oh, Adam," she said, coming to sit next to him on the bed. "Another one?"

"Y-Yeah," Adam croaked out, struggling to regain his composure.

"You kept screaming the name Gregorovich."

"He's dead," Adam added numbly.

"What?" Ginny asked, suddenly looking puzzled.

"Gregorovich."

Ginny nodded, then reaching down to her feet she picked up a glass of water and passed it to him.

"You should go back to sleep," Ginny advised, once Adam had slurped down the last of the water. "It's only just gone one."

Adam sat there in his bed for a moment, before pushing off the covers and standing up.

"I can't," he said. "My heart's racing, and I feel very energetic. Like I'm about to duel or play Quidditch. I don't think I can sleep," he paused. "You want to go sit and talk for a bit? Or do you want to go to bed?"

"Let's talk," Ginny said, then she smiled shyly. "As long as we can cuddle, too."

"Who am I to argue?" Adam said with a grin.

Adam grabbed the quilt from his bed, and he and Ginny moved to the sofa, where they cuddled together under the quilt.

"Hogsmeade really worried me today," Adam eventually admitted. "I don't think I realised how bad it was out there. I mean, we haven't been to any wizarding places for over a month. I know he's after us, and well, I'm sort of used to that by now, but now the entire wizarding world seems to be going bad."

"Yeah," Ginny added. "I wonder what it's like at Hogwarts, I hope Ron's okay," Ginny gave a sudden short, sharp laugh. "It never even occurred to me that he might not be okay at school."

"And now I can't see any way for us to get into Hogwarts," Adam continued. "The Honeydukes tunnel was the only one I knew about," he sighed. "I was thinking about trying the tunnel from the Shrieking Shack, but that will only get us into the grounds and still leaves us to figure out how to get into the castle itself. Plus, if Snape knew about the Honeydukes tunnel then he probably knows about the one to the shack as well."

"I did have another idea," Ginny added. "I was thinking, that, based on what the owners of Honeydukes said, maybe we don't want to break into the school. Perhaps we can wait for Ron to come home for Christmas and try and get a message to him then. If we have someone who can help us on the inside it will be a lot easier to get in."

Adam stared at Ginny for a second, he hadn't thought of that. It seemed absurdly simple, although it would mean sitting around doing nothing for over a month.

"The only downside," Ginny continued rapidly, "is that it means us sitting around for ages but it seems loads safer..."

"It puts Ron in danger..." Adam added.

"He's already in danger by just being at school," Ginny replied. "Anyway, after what they did to me and you, I bet all my brothers will be itching to do anything they can to help."

Adam lay there, with Ginny cuddled up against his chest, mulling over the options.

"Well," Ginny continued. "In my mind that's our best bet."

"I can't see any other options," Adam answered. "It's probably the best plan we've had so far. "

"Well, we can't do anything towards that plan until Christmas time, so we have plenty of time to think up some new ideas," Ginny mused.

"We need to keep our skills sharp, too," Adam continued. "If you want to, that is, I would like to teach you how to Apparate. I don't like the idea of you being stranded if something happens to me. To be honest I should have taught you ages ago."

"Of course I want to learn!" Ginny exclaimed in response. "We have plenty of time!" Then her face broke into a grin and she winked at him. "Plus, I'm sure you'll give me top marks."

"What?" Adam questioned. He wasn't quite sure what she was on about. "I'm not going to grade you."

Ginny sighed. "You spoilt my joke," she said, pouting slightly. "I was going to say 'I'll always get top marks because the teacher is my boyfriend'."

"Oh!" Adam exclaimed, suddenly catching on. "Well, a teacher has to have his favourite hasn't he?"

**Ron  
November 3rd 1997**

"Welcome, everyone," Alecto Carrow announced from her position at the front of the Great Hall. "It is my pleasure to welcome you all to our new Muggle Studies lessons!"

The entire school had been forced to come to the Carrow's new Muggle Studies lesson, which was being held in the Great Hall so the entire school could be taught at once.

Ron, feeling miserable and wishing he could be anywhere other than in the lesson, had sat as far towards the back of the Great Hall as possible.

"During this lesson we will aim to dispel many of the myths about Muggles and Muggle-borns that have been spread by the likes of Albus Dumbledore over many years," Carrow continued.

"The key point that everyone must understand," Amycus Carrow picked up immediately from where his sister had left off, "is that Muggles are inferior to us."

The room filled will a series of mutterings at this, but no one spoke up.

"Muggles," Alecto Carrow continued, silencing the mutterings with a stern gaze. "Are nothing more than animals. Intelligent animals, yes, but nothing compared to us. Never forget that wizards were made in order to rule this world and that, is why it is perfectly appropriate for a wizard or witch to do what they see fit with the Muggle population."

Ron closed his eyes, feeling his hands clench in anger. This wasn't right. They were talking as if Muggles weren't people. So what if they couldn't do magic? They still had a right to life.

"Now," Alecto continued to speak, her vile voice gnawing into Ron's brain. "We come onto the evilest of all Muggles: the Muggle-borns."

Ron felt his anger roar to new heights. Hermione was a Muggle-born! She wasn't evil!

"Muggle-borns are Muggles that have the gall to pretend that they are one of us," Amycus continued smoothly, as if speaking from a well-rehearsed speech. "It is not widely known that the only way a Muggle becomes magical is by stealing magic from a well-deserving witch or wizard," he paused. "Imagine that you are a wizard born to a fine Pureblood family, but suddenly in your infancy your magic is stolen from you and you become a Squib. It is shameful for both the family and the individual and it's..." he paused again, before continuing in a louder voice. "This hell is forced on you because some Muggle was greedy and stole your magic! They stole your rightful life within the wizarding world. They stole your very birthright!"

As Ron listened to Amycus preaching this rubbish, he looked around the room. He saw older Slytherins looking on with awe and older kids from the other houses looking on with disgust. Then he noticed some of the first years from other houses. Much to his horror, he realised they were staring at Carrow as if enthralled by what he was saying. _Oh no_, Ron realised with horror. _He'd failed them._  
_  
_Ron felt himself fill with rage, they were just little kids. They didn't know any better, and these...monsters... were filling their heads with lies.

"This is rubbish!" Ron roared, jumping to his feet in anger.

Before he had even finished speaking, he felt a wand being pressed into his back. He tried to turn, only to come face to face with Draco Malfoy.

"Oh," Malfoy whispered gleefully. "You're in for it now, Weasel." Then he spoke at full volume, "Professor, I found the troublemaker."

By now the entire room had turned to face him and they stared as Malfoy held Ron at a wand-point.

"Well done, Mr. Malfoy," Amycus Carrow called from the front of the room. "Take him to my office and I will join you shortly."

As Ron was pushed from the completely silent room at wand-point, he suddenly felt a spike a fear shoot through him. _Would they actually hurt him?_

"So, Weasley," Malfoy gloated, as they walked the short distance to Carrow's office. "I hear they're really going to give it to anyone who disrupts the Muggle studies lessons."

Ron ignored him.

"Oh," Malfoy continued, sounding like he was enjoying himself tremendously. "I also hear your sister's shacked up with both Winters and Potter now. I bet she's having plenty of fun with both of them."

"Don't you dare talk about my sister that way!" Ron shouted and spun around only to find Malfoy's, wand pointing right at his forehead.

"What's this?" Malfoy drawled. "Defending her?"

Ron balled his fists, trying to prevent himself from doing anything that would end up getting him in worse trouble. With a sigh, he accepted defeat and allowed Malfoy to prod him along until they reached Carrow's office.

Once they entered the office, Malfoy sauntered across the room and sat behind Carrow's desk, while Ron was instructed to remain standing.

"You see, Weasel. Class does come through eventually. Not that your," he sneered, "family, know anything about class."

Before Ron could speak in response to Malfoy's insult, Carrow burst into the room.

"Malfoy! I told you to bring Weasley here, not make yourself comfortable," he snapped. "Now get out."

Ron couldn't help but smile as he watched Malfoy being summarily dismissed by Carrow.

"I don't know what you're smiling about, Weasley," Carrow began, standing in front of him. "Well, I suppose you can be thankful that your pure blood means that I can't seriously harm you. However, it doesn't stop me having some fun, and," he paused, running his fingers along his wand. "Snape isn't here this time to stop me."

Now, as Carrow pointed his wand towards him, Ron felt scared. What were they going to do to him?

"_Crucio._"

The pain hit Ron as if from nowhere. It was the worst thing he'd ever felt. He couldn't even begin to describe it.

"_Crucio!_" Carrow hissed again.

The pain continued, consuming everything; it drove all thought from his mind. Everything, except a final desperate hope that the pain would soon stop.

When it did stop, Ron found himself lying on the floor.

"Well," Carrow said, grabbing Ron around the collar and pulling him to his feet. "That was fun. Let this be a lesson to you. Now get out and I'll see you for detention tomorrow evening!"

With that, Carrow opened the door to his office and, giving Ron a firm push, sent him stumbling out into the corridor.

With his limbs screaming, as phantom surges of pain seemed to still roam up and down his body, Ron stumbled several feet down the corridor before collapsing in a heap. He lay there feeling completely drained and numb, trying to get his body to work again. After several painful minutes, he was able to lever himself back to his feet and begin the long, slow journey back to Gryffindor tower.


	11. Chapter 10

**Ron  
December 20th 1997**

It was with great relief that Ron leapt off the Hogwarts Express and began dragging his trunk down the platform towards his parents. At last he was going home! School was over... for a few weeks at least.

School this past term had been... it had been hard. Although he hadn't been through anything else as bad as his experience with the Cruciatus Curse, he knew that a few others had experienced the same, including Neville.

It had been a tough few months.

"Ron!" His mum exclaimed, wrapping him in a hug. "I'm so glad you're back! So glad!" Then her voice lowered. "Are you alright?" She hesitated. "How was Hogwarts?"

"It..." Ron hesitated.

"Actually, Ron," Dad interrupted, in a low voice. "I think any stories you have might be best left until we're home. The Ministry has," Dad paused. "Er... laid on an escort to get us back to the Burrow."

_So,_ Ron realised as he looked up and saw a man in Auror robes standing a few feet behind his dad. _They want to make sure we actually go home and don't run off._

Ron nodded to his father. He was used to this at Hogwarts; constantly being watched, the authorities looking for any excuses to punish them.

"Shall we go, then?" Mum said, in what sounded like an incredibly forced tone.

"Yes," Dad announced, also sounding far too cheerful. Then he turned to Auror and said, "We're ready to go now."

Ron grabbed his trunk, expecting his family, as they did every year, to make the journey back through the Muggle part of Kings Cross to the Knight Bus, or even his father's Ford Anglia.

"Mr. Weasley," the Auror announced in a gravely voice. "You are all taking a Portkey back to your home. Please remember that an Auror will arrive to return you to the station on the fourth," he paused. "Now, if you would all take hold."

Ron tensed slightly at the Auror's announcement that he would be escorted back to the station but he, and his parents, did as they were told, and, after a few disorientating seconds of Portkey travel, Ron landed with a thump in the kitchen of The Burrow.

"Did the Auror not follow us?" Ron asked, picking himself off the floor.

"There's no need," Dad answered bitterly. "They've got us under tight surveillance," he paused, but then his expression suddenly brightened. "But we are safe here. Now let's go to the sitting room and we'll all catch up."

Ron followed his father into the sitting room, where Bill, Fleur, Fred and George were waiting.

"Ron!" Bill said, getting to his feet and shaking his brother's hand. "Glad to have you back."

"Alright, guys," Ron said to his brothers in reply, taking a seat of a sofa.

"Ron," Dad asked, after a few brief pleasantries. "Tell me honestly, how is Hogwarts?"

Ron sat still for a second, thinking about his response. He looked around and saw his mum, dad and brothers watching him intently.

_Could he tell them?_ Ron wasn't sure what they could do. _Should he tell them?_ Although it would be a relief not to have to go back to school, he felt as if he was abandoning all those that would be returning to Hogwarts. Plus, if he disappeared, it would put his family at risk.

"Ron..." Dad began. "If it's... If school is bad, you don't have to go back, but you heard what the Auror said. You understand the implications if you vanish... but if you don't want to go back, we'll make it work."

Ron nodded numbly. What his dad had just said had finally settled it for him.

"Dad," Ron replied. "School is... School is fine."

There was no way he could not go back, he wouldn't abandon Neville and the rest of the DA and he wouldn't force his family to go into hiding.

"Are you sure, Ron?" His mum added, still looking worried.

"Yes," Ron replied. "It'll be fine," he paused. "Has... has it been bad for the rest of you?"

"It hasn't been too bad for me," Bill answered first. "But that's only because the Ministry haven't dared mess with the Goblins yet, but since they refused to seize Harry Potter's vault, I don't know how long that will last."

"For the rest of us," Dad continued. "It's been quite tough. I'm being watched at the Ministry, the same for the boys at the shop and they're watching the house and your mother when she goes out."

"We've moved back here," Fred added.

"Strength in numbers you know," George continued.

Ron nodded. "I guess we're lucky they haven't chucked the lot of us in Azkaban."

"I think," Bill added. "It's only the fact that we're Purebloods has stopped that..."

"Plus," Dad added, "I think they're also hoping that Adam or Ginny will come back here."

"Have they tried to come here?" Ron asked, anxious for any news about his sister and friend. "Or has anyone seen them?"

Mum shook her head and said quietly. "There's been nothing..."

Dad sighed. "No news is good news. If they'd caught them it would be all over the papers. I just hope neither of them is stupid enough to come back here."

**Adam  
December 24th 1997**

Adam and Ginny stood together, under the cloak, looking down at The Burrow.

They had been near the house for several hours, scouting the area to try to determine if it was safe for them to approach.

"Ginny," Adam said quietly, drawing her into a hug. "We can't, it's just too dangerous."

"I know," Ginny whispered back to him. "I wish we could..." She trailed off and Adam could feel her shake herself. "But it's too dangerous. It's as simple as that."

They stood there in silence for nearly a minute before Adam spoke again. "We should get out of here," he began.

Then, before he knew what was happening, Adam felt himself Apparating.

He landed with a thump in the middle of their tent.

"Don't do that!" Adam exclaimed, waving his arms pointlessly. "It's really disorientating when you're not expecting it!"

"Well," Ginny replied cheekily. "You've been carrying me around for months, I thought I'd take a turn."

Adam sighed and rolled his eyes in an exaggerated gesture of annoyance. Ginny, once she had mastered it just over a week ago, had taken to Apparition like a she had to flying. She loved being able to pop from place to place more or less instantly and had been completely adamant that she Apparate herself everywhere since then.

It seemed that Adam's days of Side-Along-Apparating her around had come to an end.

"Well," Adam began, as he checked the tent, just in case anyone had broken in while they'd been away. "I guess we'll have to try and catch Ron at the station on the way back to school then?"

Before Ginny could answer, Adam poked his head outside the tent and checked their surroundings. The small wood where they had pitched the tent was silent, other than the hoot of a nearby owl. _They were safe._

In the time they had been on the run, no one had actually found them or the tent, but, Adam supposed, that was mainly because they moved frequently. In fact, the greatest danger was often from Muggles stumbling upon them, rather than the Death Eaters.

"All clear?" Ginny asked from the sofa when he brought his head back inside and buttoned up the tent flap.

"Yep," Adam said. "Just a friendly owl."

"An Owl?" Ginny asked, looking concerned.

"Oh no," Adam responded. "It was just a wild owl."

"Oh," Ginny replied.

Sensing that something was worrying her, Adam went over and sat next to her.

"Ginny," Adam asked. "Are you alright?"

Ginny was silent for several seconds. "Yeah..." she responded. "I-I was just thinking about Christmas. This'll be the first time without my family. Well, there was the one when I stayed at Hogwarts for the Yule ball, but that..." she sighed. "I don't know why, but that was different."

"At least we're together," Adam replied, taking her hand.

"Yes," Ginny answered, squeezing his hand hard. "Don't worry about me. I'm just feeling a bit low. I'll be fine. Oh!" She exclaimed, her face breaking into a suddenly smile. "I meant to tell you, I had a wicked idea about how we can get in touch with Ron if they manage to slip past us at Kings Cross again."

**Ron  
January 4th 1998**

Ron leant against the window of his compartment on the Hogwarts Express and stared out. As he unenthusiastically watched the countryside roll past, he thought about Hogwarts. He hadn't been looking forward to coming back to school, but then he'd never really looked forward to coming back to school. He looked forward to seeing friends again, but actually coming back to school and lessons? _No_.

This time it was different, it felt like a sort of quiet dread building inside him. It was like knowing that something bad was going to happen, but there was nothing you could do about it because it was something you just had to do.

Not that, in the end, Ron was given much choice; an Auror had arrived this morning to ensure that he returned to school.

_At least_, Ron thought._ I won't be alone; Neville and the rest of the DA will be with me._

The compartment door opened with a bang, and Ron sighed heavily.

_I bet this will be Malfoy coming to gloat._

Tiredly, Ron turned to face the door. However, it was closed and no-one else had come into the compartment. There was only Neville, sleeping opposite him.

"Neville," Ron said, trying to wake his friend. "Neville!"

"Wha?" Neville groaned, sounding extremely sleepy. "What happened?"

"The door made a noise," Ron responded.

"I didn't hear anything," Neville responded. "Maybe you dozed off?"

Ron looked around the compartment uneasily. He knew he hadn't been sleeping; so what had made the noise?

Before he could complete the thought, the blind that covered the window in the compartment door suddenly pulled down.

"Hi, Ron!" A new voice said and then suddenly, as if she'd appeared from nowhere. Ginny was sitting in front of him.

"Ginny!" Ron exclaimed, staring at her in absolute shock.

"Ssh," Ginny replied, suddenly looking concerned. "I don't want anyone else to know I'm here."

Ron stared at his sister for a second still in complete shock._ What was she doing here!_ Then he realised just how long it had been since he'd seen her and, before he knew it, Ron found himself being hugged tightly.

Once they'd broken the hug, Ron stared at her. Ginny looked different, very different. Her hair was longer but tied back so it didn't get in her way. She was also dressed completely as a Muggle and, if he hadn't known her, he wouldn't have been able to identify her as a witch. However, despite all these changes, the most obvious thing that he noticed was that Ginny looked older.

_Merlin,_ Ron thought. _I wonder what she's been through since she left home._

"Ron," Ginny said again. "I can't stay long in case I get caught, but I need your help."

"But, Ginny..." Ron blurted. "Wha..." he shook himself, trying to get make his words coherent. "Why did you come, then? You're practically the most wanted person in Britain right now!"

"I know, Ron," Ginny replied urgently. "But I had to come because we need your help."

"Who's we?"

Ginny sighed. "For Merlin's sake, Ron, will you let me explain! It's me and..." she paused. "Er... Harry."

"What about Adam?"

"Yes, yes, Adam, too. Now listen, it looks like we'll have to sneak into Hogwarts some time soon."

"What? Why?"

"Ron! Listen and let me talk!" Ginny demanded. "We have to sneak in, and once we're inside we may need your help. Can you do that?"

"Yes, of course, the DA will help," Ron answered. "But I don't see why you'd want to..."

"You restarted the DA!" Ginny exclaimed, ignoring his question.

"We did," Ron said proudly.

"Brilliant! But, the other thing I need you to do," Ginny continued, "and this is much more important. I need you to try and find out if there are any artefacts of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Gryffindor hidden in the school."

"Artefacts?" Ron questioned. "What..."

Before he could finish the question, someone banged on the door and Ron and Neville both jumped and spun around at the sound.

"Weasel!" Malfoy's unmistakable voice sounded from the other side. "What are you doing in there? You should be on patrol."

Ron felt himself begin to panic. _Ginny was going to get caught!_ He turned and frantically searched the compartment looking for some way that Ginny could escape, only to realise that Ginny was no longer there.

Ron froze for a second. She had appeared as if from nowhere and now she had disappeared, too. _How was she doing that?_

A click from the lock of the door was his only warning; suddenly the door burst violently open and Malfoy strode in.

"Weasel!" Malfoy said, looking around the compartment as he spoke. "Why was your door locked? Do I even want to know what you and Longbottom were doing in here?"

"Malfoy!" Ron snapped back. "What does it matter to you if I lock the door?"

"It matters when you're a blood traitor on my train!" Malfoy gloated back. "I'm Head Boy, and until we get to school I run the show. If I decide you can't lock your door, then you can't lock your door!"

Ron sighed. Malfoy really needed to be brought back down to earth, but what would him cursing him actually achieve?

"Anyway," Malfoy continued, in his typical arrogant tone of voice. "You should've been on patrol fifteen minutes ago, Weasel, but I guess I'll just tell Professor Snape that you were shirking your duties."

"Alright, Malfoy," Ron replied tiredly. "I'm going. Coming, Nev?"

Neville nodded in response, and followed Ron out of the compartment, pushing past Crabbe and Goyle, who were standing in the corridor.

Neville, even though he wasn't a Prefect, had agreed to patrol with Ron as there was no other seventh year prefect from Gryffindor. _Where are you Hermione? Are you okay?_ If anything happened, Ron knew he would need Neville at his back.

As the two of them began half-heartedly patrolling up and down the train, Ron hoped that Ginny had escaped safely. If she was caught... well, it didn't bear thinking about.

**Adam  
January 4th 1998**

Adam scurried as fast as he could away from the barrier that led to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. He knew it was a massive risk for him to be here today, but he hadn't been able to stomach leaving Ginny to navigate Muggle Kings Cross alone under the cloak.

As it turned out, it was a good job that he'd come. There were large crowds of Muggles around and, in his opinion Ginny would have really struggled to get to the platform in time if he hadn't been there to make a path for her through the crowds.

In preparation for their trip, Adam had disguised himself heavily. He currently had blond hair and had even bought a new pair of glasses from a Muggle opticians. He also wore a large Muggle rucksack on his back, which contained all of his and Ginny's possessions and, most importantly, the tent. He hoped he looked like a Muggle going on holiday and, from what he'd seen when he looked in the in the mirror this morning, he did. He definitely looked nothing like Harry Potter, or Adam Winters.

When he reached the main entrance of Kings Cross, he sighed in relief. His disguise had apparently worked, and no one had noticed him on his trip through the station. Now all he had to do was get out of sight and Apparate away.

As he left the main doors of the station, Adam scanned the area around him, searching for threats. As he looked around, his eyes settled on a man and a woman, who were also standing outside the station and looking around as if searching for something. The woman looked familiar, but Adam couldn't quite remember who she was. What Adam did notice, however, was that both of them looked terrified.

The woman obviously noticed his interest and Adam saw her suddenly begin clinging tightly to the man she was standing with. As their eyes met, something suddenly clicked in Adam's mind.

_It was Hermione's mother!_

Adam felt a surge of alarm shoot through him. _Why were they here? Had something happened to Hermione? What could have gone wrong?_

As quickly as he could Adam closed the distance between himself and the couple he presumed to be Hermione's parents.

As he approached, he saw the man and woman tense, and begin to step backwards, as if trying to avoid him.

"Hi," Adam shouted. Searching for something he could say to let them know he was friendly, but without giving himself away. "I'm a friend of your daughter," he finally settled on, unable to come up with anything better.

The couple froze and, eyeing him warily, they finally stopped backing away.

"Who are you?" Mr Granger asked.

Adam, moving to stand right next to them and answered in a whisper "My name is Harry..."

Suddenly, Mrs Granger gasped in recognition. "You came and visited us in the summer!" She exclaimed.

"Yes..." Adam replied cautiously. "Why are you here?"

"We..." Mr Granger began, in a shaky voice. "We didn't know where else to come. We wanted to try and find the Weasleys, the family that Hermione visits."

Adam nodded in response. "What's happened?"

Mrs Granger continued, in a voice that sounded as if she was about to cry. "We need help, about a week ago they..." she broke off into a sob.

"They," Mr Granger picked up for his wife. "They took Hermione."

"What!" Adam exclaimed, feeling renewed anger at Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Then, getting himself back under controlled, he looked around. They were still very close to the station and in danger of being spotted by a wizard. "We need to get somewhere more private, and then you can tell me everything."

**Ginny  
January 4th 1998**

Ginny felt a surge of sympathy for her brother as she watched Malfoy send him packing from the compartment. If she'd been in his place, she would have just hexed him, but then she didn't know what it was like at school and there may well be a very good reason why Ron hadn't hexed Malfoy.

As she watched Malfoy saunter out of the room, turning his back on where she was standing hidden by Adam's cloak, Ginny smirked to herself. It would be risky, but perhaps she could get some revenge on Malfoy and not be spotted. She glanced down at her watch; she still had time before she had to meet Adam.

Ginny drew her wand and followed Malfoy down the train. As he walked, he was flanked by his two goons Crabbe and Goyle. However, before Ginny could get close enough to accurately fire the hex she had in mind, Malfoy ducked into a compartment and, without thinking about it, Ginny immediately followed him in.

As soon as she entered, Ginny realised she had possible made a rather large mistake. The compartment she was now in was full of Slytherins. Sitting on the seats were Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott.

Ginny stood very still, being careful to keep her breathing as quiet as possible.

"Crabbe," Malfoy snapped suddenly. "Close that door."

Ginny suddenly back-pedalled quickly, but it was too late. Crabbe had kicked the door and it slammed shut just seconds before she reached it. _She was stuck!_

"I just sent Weasel out on patrol," Malfoy mused to his friends. "He didn't even realise that he was supposed to be on patrol. I mean, how stupid can you get!"

"I wish," Parkinson continued, as Ginny struggled to contain her temper. "Snape would just accept that only Slytherins should be Prefects. It just makes things so much easier."

"For one," Malfoy answered. "I'm glad this is our last year. It's about time I moved on to bigger and better things."

"What do you mean?" Pansy Parkinson asked. "You've already got something lined up?"

Malfoy only smirked in response. "Yes," he paused, slowly drawing back his sleeve and showing Parkinson something. "Well, you could say I'm already in."

Parkinson gasped in response. "Already?"

"If it wasn't for Mother's insistence that I complete my tenure as Head Boy I wouldn't have come back," Malfoy added.

"But why?" Parkinson exclaimed.

"What do you mean why?" Malfoy spat in response. "Do you object to my choice of master?"

"N-No," Pansy quickly stammered in response, her eyes quickly scanning the others in the room, as if hoping one of them would come to her aid. "It's just that..." she hesitated. "I wouldn't have thought he'd take you until you were finished with school."

"I don't think," Malfoy replied haughtily, "that school matters to the Dark Lord. Anyway, I would know his thoughts better than _you_. He visits Malfoy Manor regularly, and has even entrusted father to guard one of his most valued possessions, now that he doesn't trust the goblins."

Ginny had to stop herself jigging up and down in excitement. Could his valuable possession be a Horcrux? Malfoy had inadvertently given away a massive secret. Voldemort would probably kill him if he knew what he'd just told his friends.

"Well," Nott spoke up for the first time. "I hope you know what you're getting into. The Dark Lord expects a lot from his followers. My dad hasn't been the same since he failed a mission a few months back."

Malfoy only sneered in response. "Malfoys don't fail, Nott. So I don't think that will be a problem."

_By Merlin!_ Ginny thought. _He's so arrogant!_ _I wish I could hex him here and now._

But she couldn't, at least not yet. Adam wouldn't be here for another fifteen minutes. She paused, a plan forming in her mind.

Ginny waited patiently for fifteen minutes, enduring the Slytherin's conversation. Then, after waiting a further five minutes just to be on the safe side, she swung into action.

With one hand gripping her and wand, she moved her other hand to the door handle and ripped open the door.

The sound caused the Slytherins in the compartment to leap to their feet, but Ginny was quicker than they. As soon as the door had opened, she cast her favourite spell, the Bat-Bogey hex, at Malfoy.

As Malfoy staggered backwards with large bats beginning to work their way down his nose, Ginny turned and ran. She sprinted down the corridor towards the back of the train. As she neared the end of the last carriage, Ginny fired the Unlocking Charm at the door that led out of the back the train.

Ginny opened the door, stepped gingerly outside onto the small ledge that lay on the other side of the door, and then carefully closed the door behind her.

Once outside of the train, Ginny suddenly realised just how fast it was going. The rails sped by below her as long silver blurs and every jerk the train made threatened to toss her off the narrow ledge on which she was currently standing.

_Where is Adam? He was supposed to meet me here!_

Ginny looked around her, searching for anywhere that Adam could have landed. Then, suddenly, she saw that attached the back of the train was a ladder leading up onto the roof. Hoping that Adam had landed up there, Ginny quickly ripped off the cloak, tied it around her waist so that it wouldn't get in the way and climbed the ladder.

Adam was waiting for her on the roof of the train and Ginny couldn't help but smile when she saw him. He appeared to be having difficulty keeping his balance and had to lean on their new broom for help.

"Hi," he exclaimed, looking strangely serious. "You're late."

"Oh shush," Ginny laughed in response, running up and hugging him. "Let's get out of here. I've got loads to tell you."

They hopped onto the broom together, and, with Adam guiding it expertly, they shot away from the Hogwarts Express. Turning slightly in her seat, Ginny kept her eyes on the train looking for any signs that they'd been spotted.

"Looks like we're clear," she announced once the train had faded from view.

"I'll search for a place to put down," Adam called back to her, slowing the pace of the broom. "Did you meet up with Ron?"

"Yes," Ginny responded. "I passed the message on. I also learned something very interesting."

"What did you find out?" Adam asked. "Oh look," he exclaimed and suddenly put the broom into a dive.

"What?" Ginny questioned. "What are we diving for?"

"I think I found our new hiding place!" Adam answered in response. "Look down there. It's a small wood, would be perfect for a few nights I think."

Ginny looked at the wood. It didn't look anything more than a group of about fifty or so trees clustered closely together, but, she supposed, the trees should keep them hidden from any prying eyes.

Adam guided the broom down into a hover just above the tops of the trees and then, very slowly, they began to float downwards through the branches, until they landed on the leaf covered floor with a soft thud.

"Nice flying," Ginny complemented, grinning at her boyfriend.

"Thanks" Adam responded, suddenly putting his hands on her shoulders. "I love you."

"Love you, too," Ginny replied, giving him a kiss.

With a camp site now chosen, Adam and Ginny began their well practised routine of scouting the area making sure it was safe and setting up their tent.

"So," Adam questioned as they set to work on the tent. "What did you find out?"

"Well," Ginny responded. "While I was talking to Ron, Malfoy burst in and had a go at him. So I followed Malfoy so I could Bat-Bogey him."

"Ginny!" Adam interrupted.

"I know it was stupid and dangerous, but I overheard a conversation and apparently something is being stored at Malfoy Manor. Malfoy described it as 'one of his most valued possessions'."

"A Horcrux!" Adam exclaimed.

"That was what I thought, too," Ginny replied excitedly, all thoughts of setting up the campsite now forgotten. "And I bet Malfoy Manor is easier to break into than Hogwarts."

"Hmm," Adam murmured, apparently deep in thought. "We definitely need to check it out, but there's something we need to do first."

"What!" Ginny replied. "What could be more important than getting the next Horcrux?"

"Hermione," Adam responded gravely. "They've got Hermione."

"What!" Ginny cried. "How?"

"I'm not sure, but her parents came to the station to try and get help. Apparently, Hermione realised they were on to her, so she slipped away from her parents, but she got caught anyway."

"What..." Ginny began quietly, "What happened?"

"They," Adam began. "Her parents saw it happen, from what they said it seems she was Stunned as she tried to get away from the hotel they were staying in and then a man dressed as an Auror took her away."

"We have to do something!" Ginny replied passionately. "I know we can't help all the Muggle-borns, but Hermione is our friend."

"I know, plus," Adam continued. "I sort of feel like this is partly my fault. I mean she wouldn't be as big a target if she wasn't friends with me."

"Or me," Ginny continued. "You can't blame all this on yourself. If you're to blame then I am, too. We need to get her back."

"Yes," Adam replied. "We need to find out where she's been taken."

"My guess would be the Ministry," Ginny answered. "I just hope she hasn't been sent to Azkaban."

"Me, too," Adam responded sadly. "But how can we get into the Ministry?"

"I..." Ginny began. "I know where the staff entrance is, maybe we can use that?"

"It'll be risky," Adam commented.

"I know that!" Ginny exclaimed. "But what choice do we have? Let's get this tent up and then we need to come up with a plan."


	12. Chapter 11

**Ron  
January 5th 1998  
**  
"Welcome back, everyone," Ron greeted the assembled meeting of Dumbledore's Army. "I'm glad to see you're all back."

The assembled group remained silent, having already greeted each other and shared stories of their Christmas holidays. As Ron looked around the room, he was very pleased to see that everyone had indeed come back to school. Although he wouldn't have thought any less of anyone who'd stayed away. After all, he'd come very close to staying at home himself.

"Okay, everyone," Ron continued. "I do have one announcement to make," he paused. "Over Christmas, Ginny made contact with me."

At this announcement, the room immediately broke out into excited whispers.

"Is she okay?" One of the sixth year Gryffindors asked anxiously.

"She seems fine," Ron replied. "But she asked us to do something to help her out. Well... Harry asked her to deliver a message to us."

"Harry? At last!" someone shouted loudly. "A way to really help!"

"Alright!" Ron said, raising his voice so he could be heard above the excited chatter. "All Harry wanted to tell us was that he _may_ be attempting to get into Hogwarts and if he does, then we need to be ready to help him."

"That's all!" Dean Thomas replied. "That's all he wants us to do?"

"Yeah," Ron replied. He and Neville had decided not to tell the DA about their other mission. At least not yet. Not until they had more information. "That was all he said."

"But that still leaves us with nothing to do!" Dean replied hotly.

"Of course we have things to do!" Neville shot back. "We keep looking out for each other and the younger kids, we look for ways that Harry could get inside the school and we make sure he has somewhere to hide out when he gets here but mainly, we need to be ready!"

"Yes," Ron continued, picking up from where Neville had finished. "When Harry does come, I get the feeling we will need to be ready to fight."

**Adam  
January 6th 1998**

The employee's entrance to the Ministry of Magic seemed surprisingly unglamorous to Adam. To the casual observer, it seemed simply to be a public toilet. A public toilet that had a strangely large number of unusually dressed men and women entering, but still a toilet.

It was fortunate that Mr Weasley had taken most of the Weasley children into the Ministry with him at some point when they were younger because, luckily, even with the recent changes, Ginny still remembered the area quite clearly. She had been able to Apparate both herself and Adam very close to the staff entrance.

Adam and Ginny had come here today as the first stage of their plan to rescue Hermione from the Ministry's clutches. Their first task was to find out exactly where Hermione was being held. To do that Adam was confident that they wouldn't actually have to infiltrate the Ministry, but just try to grab an employee and get them to tell them where Muggle-born prisoners were being kept. If they could find a friendly Ministry worker, then all the better.

As the morning wore on and nine o'clock approached, they saw more and more people walk past them into the toilets.

So far they had not spotted any familiar faces amongst the people heading to work in the Ministry and, as they continued to watch, Adam secretly hoped that they would see Mr Weasley, but there had been no sign of him yet.

"Adam," Ginny whispered into his ear. "Let's see if we can edge forward and see where the people Apparating in."

Adam nodded in response and the two of them carefully edged forward, bringing the street leading up to the toilets into full view. They crept along, under the cloak until they saw a small alleyway that the Ministry workers seemed to be appearing from.

"Let's get a look at that alleyway," Adam whispered into Ginny's ear.

They had taken three more steps forward when Ginny suddenly stopped, nearly knocking Adam off balance.

"Over there," she whispered. "Standing there just across the street, opposite the alley. I think it's an Auror."

Very slowly, Adam turned to where Ginny had described. It was an Auror... or at least Adam thought it was. The man was obviously trying to lean casually against the railings behind him but, as Adam watched, he could see the man watching as people walked from the alley, down the street and into the toilets.

_Were the Ministry spying on their own people?_

Even though the Auror was only a few feet away, Adam and Ginny stayed where they were for some time, partly because it was an excellent place to watch the Ministry workers and party because Adam thought they were far more likely to get caught moving around than standing still.

Adam and Ginny watched the entrance to the Ministry until about half past nine, when the Auror finally left. All in all it had been a fairly un-eventful morning, although seeing Mr Weasley had been the highlight. Unfortunately, they couldn't actually communicate with him due to the presence of so many other people from the Ministry and the presence of the Auror.

"What now?" Ginny asked in a low voice, once the Auror had Disapparated and the street was empty.

With a shrug, Adam replied, "I guess we head back. Did you recognise anyone that you think might have any information about the Muggle-borns?"

"No," Ginny replied with a shake of her head. "I didn't recognise anyone, other than my dad."

"There didn't seem to be any senior officials, maybe they're still allowed to Floo in..." Adam mused. "Well, if your dad's the only one we can approach let's do that."

"What?" Ginny exclaimed, then, suddenly realised just how loudly she had spoken, she clapped her hand over her mouth before continuing in a quieter voice. "How?"

Adam chuckled. "All we need to do is distract the Auror, and make sure your dad arrives on his own, so no one sees us."

"Well, that certainly seems easy," Ginny replied, amusement plain in her voice. "But how do we do all that?"

"Erm," Adam hesitated. "I think that's where I need your help coming up with ideas. Let's head back and we can try and come up with a plan."

**Ron  
January 7th 1998**

"Have you found it, Nev?" Ron called to Neville, as they scoured the shelves in the school library.

"It's just up here," Neville answered, reaching up and pulling down a massive book. "_Hogwarts: a History_."

As Neville carried the large book back over to their table, Ron stared at it apprehensively. It was _huge_. How were they going to find anything in there?

"Erm..." Ron began hesitantly. "Where do we start?"

Neville, who was looking equally daunted by the book, replied. "Er, I think there's an index in here. Let's start there."

So Ron and Neville began the exhausting task of scouring _Hogwarts: a History_ for any information on artefacts of the Hogwarts founders.

The boys spent several hours pouring over the book, searching through its pages and making notes as they went. _Hermione would be proud_, Ron thought wistfully.

Finally, after nearly two hours of searching, they had made some progress. The only known artefact of Ravenclaw was her diadem, Hufflepuff had apparently owned a historic cup, while Gryffindor had two known artefacts, the Sorting Hat and a sword.

However, beyond that, the information in _Hogwarts: a History_ came to a dead end. The Sorting Hat was obviously still in the school and Hufflepuff's cup had apparently been passed down to Hufflepuff's daughter, but, most disappointingly, the sword and diadem had disappeared around the time of the deaths of their creators.

"The Sorting Hat..." Ron mused quietly to Neville as they organised their notes. "That must be what she's after. It's the only one in the school."

"Well," Neville replied. "There's nothing more in this book. I wish we had more information on the two that just vanished but ... "

"I've had enough for tonight," Ron said tiredly, he couldn't face reading anything else tonight. "We'll come back tomorrow and search for anything else on the sword or diadem."

Ron then proceeded to pack up all of their notes, while Neville returned the book to the shelf. Once he had packed up, Ron stood up and looked around.

Neville had vanished.

"Neville?" Ron called softly, not wanting to speak loudly enough to attract Madam Prince's attention.

There was no answer and Ron swore softly under his breath. He shouldn't have let Neville go off on his own.

Now beginning to feel worried, Ron walked quickly between the nearest set of shelves, determined to find where Neville had disappeared to.

When he found the first aisle of shelves empty, Ron dashed into the second row. As he rounded the corner, he ran right into someone else, scattering the parchment in his hands and sending the other person flying to the floor.

"Oh, Ron!" A voice exclaimed. "You weren't looking where you were going."

"Luna!" Ron exclaimed, suddenly recognising the blond haired Ravenclaw girl that was in the DA.

"I'm sorry I was in your way, Ron, and you seemed so eager to get somewhere, too," Luna observed mildly, as she gracefully rose to her feet.

As she stood up, Ron noticed, with alarm, that Luna had his parchment in her hand and that she was currently reading it.

"Erm..." Ron began awkwardly. "Could I..."

"Oh," Luna replied, wafting the parchment around as if it was of absolutely no importance. "Sure."

"Thanks," Ron replied, feeling relieved. He did trust Luna, she was in the DA after all, but he wasn't sure he trusted her with this, yet. He hadn't told anyone other than Neville about the mission Harry had given him.

"So was that parchment the real mission that Harry gave you?" Luna asked suddenly.

Ron simply stared at the girl, his mouth moving up and down silently. "How...?" He finally asked.

"It was quite simple really," Luna replied. "I knew you were keeping something from the rest of us and I saw something on the paper about the Sorting Hat. Plus, I spend a lot of time in library and in all my years in school I have never seen you in here voluntarily. So..." Luna paused, suddenly looking slightly anxious. "Am I right?"

Ron stared at Luna, not quite sure what he could do. He could lie and tell her that she was wrong, but Ron knew that she _knew_ that something was up. It also didn't feel right to Ron to openly lie to one of the DA. True, he hadn't given them all the information, but did he want to lie to Luna? _If he didn't trust them, how could he expect them to trust him?_

"Er.." Ron began hesitantly. "Yeah..."

"Oh, wonderful!" Luna exclaimed. "I knew I was right."

"Oh..." Ron replied uncertainly, now feeling completely baffled by Luna's response. "Okay?"

"So, would you like me to tell you about Ravenclaw's diadem, Ron?" Luna asked casually, her voice far too loud for his liking.

"Shh!" Ron exclaimed, then he lowered his voice and continued. "You know about the Diadem!"

"It's a well-known story among Ravenclaws," Luna answered. "And I'll be happy to fill you in."

Ron couldn't help but grin at the unexpected turn of events. It looked like they had more leads for information to help Harry than he thought.****

"Sure," Ron responded. "But we need to find Neville first."

"Oh," Luna replied. "I saw him just a few seconds ago in the next aisle. He was struggling to put a large book back on a high shelf. I did offer to help, but he said he was fine."

"Okay," Ron responded, breathing a sigh of relief that Neville was alright. "Let's go get Neville and then we can talk."****

January 9th 1998

"I can't believe you didn't know that the Grey Lady was actually once Helena Ravenclaw," Luna chattered as Ron and Neville followed her down the corridor towards Ravenclaw tower. "But then you aren't Ravenclaws. I expect you know all sorts of things about the history of Gryffindor that the rest of us don't know."

"Er..." Ron answered uncertainly. He didn't really know anything about Godric Gryffindor.

"I think that if anyone knows what happened to the diadem it would be Helena, she was alive at the time," Luna continued talking as they walked along.

"So where is the Grey Lady?" Neville asked, looking nervous. "We don't want to be caught wandering around the school without a reason."

"I don't know," Luna replied lightly.

On hearing this, Ron immediately stopped walking.

"Where are we going, then?" he exclaimed in frustration.

"We won't find the Grey Lady unless we look for her, will we?" Luna replied, sounding genuinely puzzled by Ron's reaction.

"So we just walk around until we find her?" Neville asked disbelievingly.

"Of course," Luna replied. "She's never normally far from Ravenclaw tower."

With that, the three of them ventured on, wandering through the corridors of Hogwarts searching for the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower. As they walked, Ron and Neville did their best to act casual, desperately trying to avoid any unwanted attention. Luna, however, seemed completely oblivious to this and she continued chatting merrily to both of them.

"So, Ron," Luna asked. "Did you have a good Christmas?"

"What?" Ron blurted. "It was err... good."

"Oh, that is good!" Luna replied happily. "I enjoyed spending time with Daddy. He even started to teach me how to Apparate!"

"Oh..." Ron began. "Don't you have... "

"Ssh, Ronald," Luna interrupted.

Ron could only stand there in silent amazement. One minute Luna was talking for England and the next minute she was telling him to be quiet!

"What..." Neville whispered urgently. "What's going on?"

Luna held up her hand to silence him. Then, suddenly, she set off at a run, forcing Ron and Neville to chase after her. They ran down the corridor and rounded the next corner before Luna stopped.

"Madam!" She called up the corridor. "Madam!"

Then Ron saw it. Floating midway down the corridor that stretched out in front of them was a ghost. A female ghost he assumed to be the Grey Lady. Upon hearing Luna's voice the ghost froze and, turning gracefully on the spot, floated back down the corridor towards them.

"Yes, my dear," the ghost spoke her attention directed firmly on Luna.

"My lady," Luna replied. "We need some help. We need to know anything that you can tell us about the lost diadem."

"You..." The Grey Lady replied. "You and these Gryffindors wish to know of my mother's diadem?"

"Yes!" Ron exclaimed.

"I am afraid," she said, suddenly turning around, "that I cannot help you."

"WAIT!" Ron cried out. "You can't just go!"

"I will not reveal my knowledge of the diadem to mere students seeking to use it for their own ends," the Grey Lady replied disdainfully.

"But, Madam," Luna answered quickly before Ron could respond. "This isn't for the advancement of our knowledge. It's to help in the fight against..." Luna hesitated. "...Voldemort."

Ron felt himself involuntarily tense at the mention of _his_ name, he couldn't believe Luna had said the name. However, it seemed to have done the trick because the Grey Lady had paused. They seemed to have grabbed her attention again.

"We've been given a mission," Luna began conspiratorially. "Recovering the diadem, would help those fighting against him... that's if you want to oppose him?."

"I..." The Grey Lady responded. "Of course I want _him_ gone."

"So you'll help us?" Ron asked in amazement. He couldn't believe how Luna had been able to change the ghosts mind so quickly.

"I...I will. You see the diadem bestows wisdom, but I doubt that it would greatly increase anyone's chances of defeating the wizard who calls himself the Dark Lord."

"That's not..." Ron began, planning on protesting that wearing it wasn't their plan, but then he realised he didn't actually know what Harry's plan was, or why he wanted artefacts of the founders. He paused wracking his brain for something to tell the ghost. "The important thing is that You-Know-Who doesn't get his hands on it!"

At this, the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw wailed pathetically and, as she cried, she seemed to shimmer and become more transparent.

"Then all is lost!" She wailed. "He already has it!"

"What!" Ron practically shouted. How had he beaten them to it?

"You see, I stole the diadem from my mother. I sought to make myself cleverer, more important than my mother. I ran away with it. My mother, they say, never admitted that the diadem was gone, but pretended that she had it still. She concealed her loss, my dreadful betrayal, even from the other founders of Hogwarts.

"Then my mother fell ill — fatally ill. In spite of my perfidy, she was desperate to see me one more time. She sent a man who had long loved me, though I spurned his advances, to find me. She knew that he would not rest until he had done so.

"He tracked me to the forest where I was hiding. When I refused to return with him, he became violent. The Baron was always a hot-tempered man. Furious at my refusal, jealous of my freedom, he stabbed me."

"The Baron? You mean — ?" Neville exclaimed.

"The Bloody Baron, yes," said the Grey Lady, and she lifted aside the cloak she wore to reveal a single dark wound in her white chest.

"When he saw what he had done, he was overcome with remorse. He took the weapon that had claimed my life, and used it to kill himself. All these centuries later, he wears his chains as an act of penitence … as he should," she added bitterly.

"What about the diadem?" Ron questioned intently.

"It remained where I had hidden from the Baron. It is concealed inside a hollow tree."

"Where is this tree?"

"A forest in Albania. A lonely place I thought was far beyond my mother's reach."

"Albania..." Ron replied in disappointment. He wasn't even sure where Albania was.

"Where does You-Know-Who come into this?" Neville asked.

The Grey lady just stood there, not responding to Neville's question. Instead, she seemed to shimmer once more becoming far more transparent than she normally was.

"Please tell us, my lady," Luna spoke again, taking Ron by surprise.

"You," she began, very softly, "you're not the first people I've told this story to."

"You told You-Know-Who?" Luna exclaimed.

The lady seemed to sigh, and she sank down towards the floor until she was almost submerged in it.

"He wasn't a Dark Lord... at least not then... I had no idea. He was … flattering. He seemed to … to understand … to sympathize. "

"You told You-Know-Who where you hid the diadem?" Ron blurted. How could she have done that!

"Ron!" Luna exclaimed angrily, then turning back to the ghost she continued, "My lady..."

"I knew you wouldn't understand!" The Grey Lady screamed at Ron.

Then, before any of them could say anything else, the ghost turned on the spot and sped off down the corridor a tremendous speed, her cries echoing down the corridor after her.

"Well done, Ron!" Neville snapped at him. "Now we won't get anything else out of her!"

"What did I do?" Ron argued back. "It wasn't as if she was going to tell us anything else anyway!"

The three of them stood there in silence, as they tried to digest what they had just been told.

"She said," Ron began, "that she told You-Know-Who before he was a Dark Lord, so does that mean it was years ago?"

"Before we born probably," Neville answered.

"So, it can't have been the diadem that Harry is after. Not if _he's_ had it all these years," Ron surmised. "He only asked us to look for things in Hogwarts, and the diadem hasn't been at Hogwarts for years."

Neville nodded in agreement. "But that just leaves us with the Sorting Hat then, unless we can find out anything about the sword of Gryffindor or Hufflepuff's cup."

"Do you Gryffindors know anything about the sword," Luna asked suddenly.

Ron shook his head. "We need to look again in the library."

"Well," Luna continued. "I was thinking. Most Ravenclaws know of the existence of the diadem, so maybe someone from the DA who's in Hufflepuff might know about the cup?"

"Yes!" Ron exclaimed. "That's brilliant!"

"We have a meeting coming up soon. Let's ask around then," Neville added.

"I don't want too many people finding out about our mission, though," Ron said. Despite the massive help that Luna had been, he still didn't want to let anyone else in on the plan. "The more who know, the more likely Snape will find out."

**January 11th 1998**

Ron waited anxiously just inside the Room of Requirement. With a bit of luck Susan Bones would be arriving a few minutes early for the DA meeting. Ron had wanted to try and talk to her before the meeting, so he hoped she had taken his note seriously. The last thing he wanted was the entire DA hearing what he was asking and then gossiping about it.

He did feel guilty that he was keeping this from the DA, but then, this was extremely serious and he couldn't afford for the Carrows or Snape to find out what he was after.

Five minutes before the DA meeting was due to start, the door to the Room of Requirement slowly opened and a head appeared through the gap between the doors.

Once Susan had seen him, she and Hannah Abbot, also from the DA, quickly let themselves into the room. Even though Ron had said he only wanted to speak to her, he was secretly pleased that she had brought someone else with her. After all, safety in numbers was important.

"Hi," Ron said. "Thanks for coming."

"Ron," Susan replied uncertainly. "What's going on? Why did you want to see me?"

"I..." Ron hesitated, debating whether he should ask Hannah to leave. "I.. err... need to ask you something."

The Hufflepuffs stood there looking at him expectantly.

"Do you know anything about any artefacts that once belonged to Hufflepuff?" Ron asked, finally deciding that there wasn't much risk in asking Hannah as well.

"You mean like Hufflepuff's cup?" Hannah questioned.

"Yes!" Ron replied enthusiastically. "What do you know about it?"

"Not much," Susan began. "Professor Sprout told us about it once. Apparently it was passed down through the Hufflepuff family and when the family died out it passed to the Smith family, but then it vanished."

"Vanished?" Ron asked, feeling disappointment. Yet another dead end!

"Yes," Hannah continued. "I just vanished, apparently not that long ago."

"Recently?"

"Well, no," Hannah continued. "Fifty years of so, I think, but..." she laughed, "that is recently compared to when Hufflepuff was actually alive."

"Yeah. I suppose," Ron replied in disappointment. "Well, thanks for coming and," he hesitated. "I guess the rest of the DA will be here in a few minutes."

While they waited, the two Hufflepuff girls chatted between themselves, but Ron didn't attempt to join in. He needed to come up with the next step in their plan. They hadn't found anything on any of the other possible artefacts, so Ginny and Harry must be after the Sorting Hat.

Now all he had to do was figure out how to get it.

**Ginny  
January 12th 1998**

For the first time in what felt like years, Ginny was actually inside the boundaries of her home. She was back at the Burrow!

Well... nearly.

She was actually hiding under the cloak just inside the wall of her family's property. Her job in the grand plan that she and Adam had come up with was to delay her father, just long enough so that he would arrive after the Auror that was routinely on guard at the entrance to the Ministry had left. The real trick was that she had to avoid being detected. Ginny knew the house was still being watched.

Ginny had worked out that, if possible, she needed to delay her dad, for at least half an hour. She didn't think she would be able to delay him that long, but it was a goal. The longer she could delay him, the easier things would be for Adam.

Her first step had been to jam up the gate. When her dad came along he wouldn't be able to open it. That should at least buy her a few minutes. The second thing she had done was, using the _Aguamenti_ Charm she'd turned the path immediately in front of the gate into mud. Hopefully her dad would try and dry it before his shoes became all dirty. If both of those didn't delay him enough... well, Ginny had more ideas up her sleeve.

As it turned out, her dad did her massive favour by leaving for work ten minutes late. He left the house and began walking towards the gate where Ginny was currently hidden.

"What!" She heard him exclaim as his feet squelched in the mud she had created.

At the sound of her father's voice Ginny froze, feeling a strange overpowering desire to run up and hug him. But she couldn't. She mustn't. Instead she took comfort from being in his presence, and just being able to hear his voice.

Ginny shook herself out of her reverie a few minutes later to realise that her father had already moved past the mud and was now trying to open the gate.

"Those boys..." she heard her father muttering. "Isn't the time for pranks..."

Ginny had a stifle a giggle at this point. Her dad thought that her tricks to delay him were the twin's pranks! _That's a big complement!_

Then, with a sigh and a swift flick of his wand, her dad opened the gate and mused. "Clever..."

Ginny was now worried. She had used her two best ideas and, even including the fact that dad left the house late, she had only managed to delay him fifteen minutes.

In a last ditch effort, Ginny took out her wand and, using the levitation charm, levitated a nearby bush. She didn't actually levitate it, but just caused it to shake.

Her father, hearing the strange noise, went over to investigate, but, finding nothing, he quickly stopped searching.

Desperate now for some other way to delay him, Ginny picked up a nearby pebble and lobbed it towards her dad. It missed him, impacting on the ground near his feet.

Her dad hardly even reacted to it. He just stood there looking around. Obviously trying to pick out the source of the mischief.

"I don't know who's doing this, but I'm afraid I don't have time right now," he said, and to Ginny's surprise she though she heard a tinge of regret in his voice. "I have to get to work."

Then, with those words, her dad turned on the spot and Disapparated. Ginny had only delayed him eighteen minutes. She hoped it was enough.

**Adam  
January 12th 1998**

Adam was waiting anxiously in the alley that Ministry workers Apparated to every morning. In order to be certain of avoiding detection, Adam had arrived early, very early, and as he had given Ginny the cloak for her part in their plan, Adam had to hide inside a doorway that led off the alley.

Leaving the door slightly open, Adam peered out into alley. He had to wait nearly half an hour before the first Ministry employee Apparated into the alley and, readying his wand just in case, Adam watched the employee walk down the lane and turn the corner.

Looking at his watch, Adam noticed that it was nearly half past seven. Mr. Weasley normally arrived just before nine, and the Auror normally left half an hour later. If their plan worked, Ginny would delay Mr Weasley so he arrived after the Auror left, if not, then Adam would just have to be extra careful. The main thing was that Mr Weasley arrived after the other Ministry workers had already arrived at work. If they were seen talking it would be very bad for both of them. Whatever happened, Adam had quite a bit of waiting around to do.

Adam was still waiting, hidden behind the door, when nine o'clock came around and the final few Ministry workers appeared and hurried down the lane. Good. Ginny had obviously succeeded in delaying Mr Weasley for a least a few minutes. Now all Adam had to do was wait.

Mr Weasley arrived just after quarter past nine and, even though Adam was waiting for him, his arrival took Adam slightly be surprise. Ginny had done excellently, but she hadn't managed to delay him for a full half hour.

Realising that he had to act quickly before Mr Weasley reached the end of the alley, Adam made a loud noise with the door that he was hiding behind. Hopefully Mr Weasley would come and investigate.

The noise made Mr Weasley stop in his tracks. Taking out his wand, he slowly turned around scanning the area before his eyes locked onto the door.

Adam waited patiently as Mr Weasley slowly approached the doorway until he paused less than ten paces away.

"Who's there?" he called. "Come out!"

"Mr. Weasley," Adam said as loudly as he dared. "I need to speak to you."

Mr Weasley must have recognized Adam's voice. He closed the distance to the doorway in a matter of a second before bursting through.

"Adam," he began, then his expression seemed to fall in disappointment before he continued. "Harry Potter!" he exclaimed. "Sorry, I ... I thought you were someone else."

As Adam watched the expression on Mr Weasley's face, he felt a tremendous sense of sadness. For a second, Mr Weasley had looked so happy when he thought he was Adam, but he wasn't Adam, at least not from Mr Weasley's point of view. Right now he looked like Harry Potter. In fact he hadn't looked like Adam since he'd fled from Hogwarts.

"Harry," Mr Weasley enquired. "Are you okay? What are you doing here?"

"I–" Adam said hesitantly. Now that he was actually talking to Mr Weasley, he couldn't think of what to say.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for you to come here?" Mr Weasley asked anxiously. "Why do you need to speak to me?" Then his face paled. "Has something happened to Ginny?"

"No, no," Adam said hurriedly. "Ginny is fine, in fact..." he felt himself smiling involuntarily. "Did you find yourself delayed this morning?"

"That was Ginny?" Mr Weasley replied, a wide smile appearing on his face.

Adam nodded in response.

"And how is Adam?" Mr Weasley asked, still looking anxious. "You sounded so much like him... when you called out..."

"Mr. Weasley," Adam choked out. "I... Adam's fine, too."

"Good," Mr Weasley replied. "That's good, but if everything's okay why did you want to see me?"

"Hermione's been captured," Adam said bluntly. "We want to try and rescue her."

"Hermione!" Mr Weasley exclaimed in horror. "That's...That's terrible, but can you really mount a rescue?"

"Yes," Adam quickly responded. "But we need to know where the Muggle-borns are being held."

"Ah," Mr Weasley responded, a tone of distaste coming to his voice. "It's no big secret where they're holding them. Since nearly all the original prisoners have been released and the Dementors have been set free to roam the countryside, they've been using Azkaban."

"Azkaban!" Adam exclaimed in horror. "But that's... I heard it's a horrible place."

Mr Weasley sighed. "It is, but the true horror of it was the concentration of Dementors. Now they've gone it is considerably more hospitable and now guarded by," he gave a short laugh, "so-called Ministry guards."

"Okay," Adam replied, his mind now racing. With the Dementors gone, they should at least have a chance of rescuing Hermione.

"It won't be easy," Mr Weasley added. "Azkaban is on an island, and the whole place is covered by Anti-Apparition wards. I've only ever been there once myself, so I'm afraid I can't offer much advice but when I went I used the Floo and ended up in sort of office. From there the Aurors took me by some sort of special Portkey to the island. You'll need to find a way to sneak onto the island and then be able to avoid detection while you attempt to rescue Hermione."

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley," Adam responded. They could do this. He was certain of it. It probably wouldn't be the best idea to try to sneak in the way Mr Weasley had used, but once he found the island he surely he could figure out a way to get there undetected. "That's exactly what I needed to know."

"No problem at all, Harry," Mr Weasley responded politely. "Now I'd better be going before I'm missed. I'm already late enough for work as it is and I'm sure you don't want to hang around here too long."

As Mr Weasley turned to go, Adam felt a sudden powerful sense of regret. Despite everything, he had half been looking forward to talking to Mr Weasley again, but even though he had been friendly and helpful, it just wasn't the same. Mr Weasley had treated him as an acquaintance, not as ... as the member of the family he'd treated him like before.

Adam was suddenly overcome with the urge to completely open up to him, but he couldn't, even though he wanted to. He knew he would have to face telling the Weasleys soon, but couldn't just blurt it out here, where they could be discovered by the Aurors at any minute.

At least he had the information he came for and could now begin planning Hermione's rescue.

"Good bye, Mr Weasley," Adam finished numbly, as Mr Weasley began moving back towards the door and the alleyway that lead to the Ministry.

As Mr Weasley ducked out of the door, Adam wondered to himself; _how different would things have been if he'd told the Weasleys last year as Dumbledore had suggested?_


	13. Chapter 12

**Adam  
January 17th 1998**

Over the previous week, Adam and Ginny had been extremely busy. Firstly, after their meeting with Mr Weasley, they had both decided to observe their family discretely; just to make sure that no one had spotted the meeting and decided to take action against the Weasleys.

Once they were satisfied that the Weasleys were safe, Adam and Ginny began the arduous task of trying to work out how exactly they were going to break into Azkaban. It seemed like an impossible task. The only consolation Adam had was that he was sure it would be easier to break into a prison than it would be to break out of one.

Their first plan, as they didn't want to run the risk of going through the Floo entrance that Mr Weasley had used, was to attempt to locate Azkaban and try to sneak onto the island on their broom. However, that plan was soon abandoned as they were simply unable to locate the island on which Azkaban prison was built.

"So if we can't fly in what options do we have?" Adam growled, as he and Ginny sat around the table in the tent.

"I just don't know," Ginny replied tiredly. "The only other way in I can see is to try the Floo entrance that dad used."

Adam sighed. "We decided that's too risky!"

"So we're going to just forget about rescuing Hermione, then?" Ginny snapped in response. "If we don't use the Floo we may as well forget about this and start thinking about how to break into Malfoy Manor."

"Of course we can't just leave Hermione! She's our friend and we're the whole reason she's in there!" Adam said in response, his voice getting louder.

"I don't want to leave her either!" Ginny retorted. "I'm just saying I can't see any other way for us to get to Azkaban other than using the Floo."

Adam sighed again. "I know. Sorry, I'm not being very helpful."

Ginny smiled at him from the other side of the table. "It's alright," she said through a yawn. "It's late. We're both tired and irritable."

Ginny's yawn caused Adam to also yawn. So, deciding it was time to call it a day, he stood up and walked towards Ginny's chair.

"Do you want to try and get some sleep?" he asked leaning down and kissing her on the cheek. "We can try and figure out how to we're going to do this tomorrow."

"Okay," Ginny said, looking up at him. "I'll go to bed. Shall we swap over in a few hours?"

Adam nodded in response and gave Ginny a good night kiss before returning to his chair so he could keep watch.

"Adam," Ginny added suddenly as she walked towards her bedroom. "I love you."

Adam turned and stared at Ginny for a split second, before quickly crossing the room and pulling her into a hug. "I love you too, Ginny." Adam said in reply. "I know I don't say it enough..."

"Oh, Adam. I know you love me," Ginny said, suddenly blushing and adjusting the locket that was hanging around her neck. "I just realised I hadn't said it to you today."

"You don't need to say it everyday, we've been busy," Adam replied, still not sure quite what was actually bothering Ginny. He knew that he didn't understand girls, but he had hoped that by now he could at least understand this particular girl. Even so, she was still able to completely baffle him at times.

"That's exactly it," Ginny continued. "I miss the times at Hogwarts when we could... you know... just be us."

Adam laughed softly, causing Ginny to glare at him. "When did we ever have quiet times at Hogwarts? There was always something going on."

"I know," Ginny replied. "I'm just being silly..."

"Oh, Ginny," Adam said, still not quite sure what was bothering her, but keen to reassure her. "I know I've," he faltered. "I know... Sometimes I get tired of having to hide, and sometimes I do worry that tomorrow will be the day we get caught, but we'll get through this. Once it's all over, we'll have lots of time... the rest of our lives just to be us."

As he said this, Ginny kissed him again, tightening her grip on him and, as they broke apart, Adam looked at Ginny to see her beaming widely at him. He wasn't quite sure what he'd said, but he certainly seemed to have cheered her up.

"Mmm," Ginny murmured. "Love you."

"Love you," Adam grinned back at her. "You going to bed now?"

"Yeah," Ginny said, planting a soft kiss on his cheek. "Night-night."

As Ginny turned to go, Adam did feel a surge of guilt. Was he neglecting Ginny? Ever since he'd heard that Hermione had been captured because of him, he'd focused all his energies on saving her, even putting off their attempt to retrieve the Horcrux from Malfoy Manor.

Adam shook his head. _I know Ginny understands, so why am I feeling all this doubt?_ Rescuing Hermione was top priority right now and if they had to take a risk to rescue her, then so be it.

**Ginny**  
**January 25th 1998  
**  
Ginny strode into the Leaky Cauldron, leaving the door open a fraction of a second longer than she normally would to let Adam, who was wearing his Invisibility Cloak, slip into the room behind her. Then, trying to look as confident as she could despite the feelings of nervousness and fear that coursed through her, she looked around, thankful that it seemed pretty quiet.

She and Adam had picked the time of their break-in attempt carefully in the hope that the pub would be reasonably quiet. She didn't want to attract attention before they had even started.

As Ginny crossed the room towards the Floo, she tried to keep a careful ear out for Adam's footsteps. She couldn't hear him. She'd just have to assume he was okay and following right behind her.

The plan they had come up with, after deciding that they needed to at least try and rescue Hermione, called for one of them to take the Floo to the prison, with the other following under the cloak. It had taken much debate, a good deal of argument and several lost tempers to settle who would be under the cloak and who would be disguised.

In the end, however, it was decided that Adam should be under the cloak. Adam hadn't liked it, but Ginny felt he would be much harder disguise due to his glasses. The second reason was that she felt far more comfortable knowing that he was there to be her surprise back-up. She hadn't felt anywhere near as confident in her own ability to do the job the plan required of the person who was under the cloak. The final reason, one that she hadn't voiced to Adam, was that if the worst happened and she was captured, Adam would be able to escape and continue the fight against Voldemort. Based on the Prophecy, he was the important one, not her.

Ginny approached the Floo, lit the fire with her wand, stepped into the flames and waited, making an exaggerated gesture of straightening her clothes. A few seconds later, she felt someone hugging her and knew that Adam was now in the fire with her.

So, giving one last look around the Leaky Cauldron, she called out. "Azkaban Prison!"

As she swirled through the Floo, clinging onto Adam tightly, Ginny tried to push the anxiety out of her mind and concentrate on what she had to do. She could do this! They could do this!

Finally, as she whooshed towards the grate for Azkaban, all she could think about was if Adam would be able to stay on his feet at the other end.

As she emerged from the fireplace, before she'd even had time to get her bearings, she felt a wand being pointed at her face.

"State your name!" A voice said loudly.

Ginny gulped, and tried desperately to collect herself and not fall to pieces.

"State your name!" The voice said again. "NOW!"

"I..." Ginny gasped, holding her hands you to show she wasn't holding a wand. "I..." She took a deep breath. "My name is Veronica Robins," Ginny eventually choked out. She had decided in advance to use the name of one of her room-mate's mother, Merlin knew she had heard Demelza mention her enough times. She had picked Demelza's mother because she knew that she was a Pureblood witch who did not work for the Ministry. Ginny just hoped none of these people knew the real Veronica.

"Very well," the man in front of her said, taking a step back and looking her over, but still keeping his wand pointed at her.

As the man's eyes roamed over her, Ginny felt decidedly uncomfortable. She had gone to great and painful lengths to make herself look older, but it was still very creepy that a much older man was looking at her in _that_ way. As the man continued to look her over, she hoped that her disguise was adequate. She had put on a lot of makeup, worn different clothes and changed the colour of her hair. She had even trimmed her hair, much to her sadness. She hadn't like it, Adam hadn't liked it, but both had agreed that having her hair in a different style would make it easier for her to pass as another person.

"Now," the man said slowly. "State your purpose here."

"I..." Ginny began, feeling nervous once again. "I have an appointment to visit."

"An appointment?" The man said, still pointing his wand at her. "There are no appointments today."

Ginny froze, they had a plan if she couldn't talk her way through but that was dependant on Adam.

"But..." Ginny began, now beginning to fall back on the lines she'd rehearsed. "The man in the Ministers office, Wesley I think his name was, said it was all arranged!"

"Weasley?" The man sneered.

"Yes, was his name!" Ginny exclaimed, now beginning to get in the swing of things. "He said I should come first thing this morning! Please don't tell me he screwed it up!"

"As I said," the man responded. "We have no appointments scheduled for today. No visitors allowed, by order of the Minister. Weasley should not have told you to come here," then he stepped forward. "I am afraid you'll have to leave."

"But..." Ginny protested, taking a step backwards so the man wasn't right in her face.

The man raised his wand, pointed right at her face and began to speak. "Leave..." then he froze, his eyes clouding slightly. "Actually..." he stuttered. "Maybe I should just double check. Follow me."

Ginny's heart gave a leap. _Maybe they had a chance after all!_

The guard walked back down the room away from the Floo and Ginny followed. As they walked, Ginny had her first chance to actually take in her surroundings. They were in a long and fairly narrow room. At the far end of the room three guards stood behind a desk and, at the sight of them, Ginny's heart sank.

As the man who had spoken to Ginny walked towards the desk, two of the other guards approached him.

"What's going on?" one of them demanded accusingly. "Why hasn't _she_ gone?"

"I need to check if this woman thinks has an appointment," the main said faintly.

"There are no visitors allowed!" The second man snapped, and Ginny suddenly saw him reaching for his wand.

As his hand moved, Ginny heard Adam's voice ring out, crying. "Now, Ginny!"

Chaos broke out. Ginny scrambled for her wand, ripping it out of her pocket as if her life depended upon it. As she was doing this, spells began to fill the room.

By the time she had her wand in her hand two of the guards had already fallen, and the man that had spoken to her and an invisible person were firing on the remaining guard, who had taken cover behind the desk.

"_Stupefy!_" Ginny cried, but her spell hit his shield, so she continued to cast. "_Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!_"

Under the onslaught of three attackers, the final guard's shield crumbled and he too was soon Stunned.

Only then did Adam tear off the cloak. Once he was visible again, Ginny grinned at him. However, instead of returning her smile, Adam looked pale, almost as if he might be sick.

Seeing the state he was in, Ginny quickly crossed the room. As she did, she was vaguely aware that the guard, who apparently was now on their side, had knelt down behind the desk.

"Are you okay, Adam?" Ginny asked anxiously. "You look terrible."

"I feel dirty," Adam said faintly. "Casting this spell... it makes me feel like one of _them_. I feel..."

"I know..." Ginny said, and pulled him into a hug. "But there was no other way. We knew we couldn't just fight our way in, we had no idea how to actually get to the prison from here."

"I know..." Adam said, "but still..."

"We did what we had to do, Adam, and I think the important thing is that we did it for the right reasons," Ginny responded. "But we don't have time to discuss it now!"

Adam shook himself. "You're right," he said, still not sounding convinced. "Let's get going. I think he should be getting us the Portkey. I think they keep it locked away somewhere."

A few minutes the later the guard, still with a dazed look on his face, returned with a tiny metal disc in his hand.

"Hold on to the Portkey and say today's password: 'Purity'," the man said flatly.

"Is he coming with us?" Ginny questioned.

Adam shook his head. "If we Portkey under the cloak we should be okay."

"_Stupefy!_" Ginny cried, Stunning the man.

"Ginny!" Adam exclaimed.

"We couldn't just leave him," Ginny explained. "And I don't think you want to hold the curse all this time do you?"

"No... no," Adam mumbled. "Sorry, I should have thought of that."

"Hey, it's okay," Ginny replied softly, noticing that Adam seemed strangely shaken by having to use the Imperius Curse on the man. "We're a team, yeah? I look out for you, you look out for me."

Adam grinned back at her. "Thanks. Well, I think this was the easy bit. You ready?"

Nodding at him, Ginny joined Adam under the cloak. Then, with both of them holding on to each other and onto the Portkey, Adam said, "Purity."

The moment Adam had finished speaking, Ginny felt the familiar tug behind her belly button, and she was pulled away.

A few seconds later, Ginny felt her feet impact hard a stone floor. Adam landed next to her a split second later and, much to her horror, Ginny realised that he'd lost his balance and she had to grab on to him to keep him from falling over and blowing their cover.

"Incoming Portkey!" A voice suddenly rang out and Ginny realised that, even though she'd managed to prevent Adam from toppling over, it had all been for nothing; the guards seemed to have been alerted to their presence. "Where...?"

Under the cloak, Adam and Ginny stood one behind the other in silence, and watched as a man dressed in Auror robes approached them.

They were standing in a stone room. The only furniture in the room was a desk and several chairs, all positioned near a small wooden door at the far end of the room.

As the man walked down towards them, Ginny looked at the far end of the room and spotted five more guards standing near the doors. Five! How would they ever get past that many?

"There's no sign of anyone," the man called out, stopping less than ten paces from Adam and Ginny. "False alarm?"

"No," Another voice shouted. "That alarm only goes off when someone activated the Portkey. You and you," he pointed at two of the guards. "Stay here and guard the doors. The rest of you with me, use Homenum Revelio. If anyone's here they'll be disillusioned."

Ginny froze in horror, and she felt Adam tense behind her. She'd never heard of that spell. _Could it actually detect them underneath the cloak?_

"Ginny," Adam whispered. "When they get here stay under the cloak and wait for me to start casting spells."

Ginny nodded in response and waited for what seemed like ages while the three men approached with wands in their hands, apparently searching for them.

Then, without warning, Adam dived out of the cloak and Ginny had to stifle a scream. _What was he doing?_

Immediately deciding to rescue Adam from his madness, Ginny grasped her wand and was about to fire at the closest of the guards. Then, she remembered what Adam had said to her '_wait for me to start casting spells_' and she stopped herself.

Adam had sprinted across the room, dodging spells as he ran. Immediately, the three men who were approaching her position turned around and started firing spells across the room towards him.

"It's Harry Potter!" One of them shouted. "Stun him!"

Then, Ginny saw Adam glance quickly over his shoulder and start firing spells at the guards, who now had their back to her.

_Now, I can help him!_ Ginny thought with glee and she began firing Stunners at the guards.

She managed to Stun one before they could even react to her presence, she hit a second while they were scrambling to locate their hidden assailant and Adam felled the third in the ensuing chaos.

With the three, guards down, Ginny paused and gave a relieved sigh.

"Ginny!" Adam shouted.

Ginny felt a brief spike of panic at Adam's cry of alarm. Then everything went black.

The next thing she knew, her eyes flew open and Adam was kneeling next to her. Her body tingled all over and a dull ache permeated her limbs.

"Oooh," she moaned. "Wha.." she continued dazedly. "What happened?"

"One of the Aurors standing guard at the door Stunned you," Adam commented. "But..." he said, clasping her hand. "I Stunned them."

"Thanks," Ginny said, as Adam helped her to her feet.

"Yeah," Adam said, looking relieved. "I..." he mumbled. "I thought he had you, but..." he paused. "These guys aren't Death Eaters, they didn't use Unforgivables, plus, especially the two at the door, just weren't very good shots."

Ginny turned to look at him as she tried to work the kinks out of her limbs. "I guess guard duty isn't a reward for good work."

"Yeah," Adam said faintly, still looking rather unsettled.

"So what now?" Ginny asked, looking around at the five men who were lying slumped around the room. She couldn't believe they had managed to take down _five_ guards.

"I suppose the door they were guarding leads into the Prison... we have to search for Hermione, I guess."

"Okay, but should we Stun the guards one last time?" Ginny questioned. "And tie them up maybe?"

"Yes!" Adam exclaimed. "As soon as they wake up and raise the alarm, we're done for."

The two of the re-Stunned the guards and tied them up with conjured ropes. Once they were done, they ducked back under their cloak and ventured out through the door into Azkaban Prison.

The prison itself was like a winding maze of dark, narrow, damp stone corridors. It was depressing. It was horrible and, even though she had only been here a few minutes, Ginny couldn't wait until she could get out of here.

_How had Sirius survived in here alone, with the Dementors around!_

As they walked, Ginny clutched her wand tightly. She would be prepared for whatever they found and ready to fight if necessary.

Before long, they approached the first cell and Ginny, half dreading what she might see, looked in through the tiny observation window. As she looked, Ginny choked back a sob. The cell was just a bare stone room; it had a single small window with bars across it. The cell looked damp, dark, cold and absolutely _horrible_.

Backing away from the cell, they quickly continued. As they walked, Ginny felt Adam link his arm in hers and grip her firmly.

"You okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah..." he replied. "Just reminds me of..." he trailed off.

Ginny understood. Azkaban was reminding him of the time he spent locked up in the Riddle house.

"Let's find Hermione and get out of here," Ginny said bracingly, trying to put as much strength into her voice as she could.

Adam nodded in response and the two of them began to search. Luckily, the cells seemed to have the names of their occupants scrawled on the door which made their search considerably easier.

"Just check the name and move on," Adam said to her. "We can't waste the time looking into each one."

"I know..." Ginny sighed. "I know we came to get Hermione, but I wish we could rescue everyone."

"We can't," Adam replied, obviously distressed that they couldn't save everyone. "But if we only rescue Hermione we at least stand a chance of sneaking out. I don't know how long we've got before they realise we're here."

They continued searching, starting with the lower security cells near the entrance and working their way farther inside the prison. From time to time, Adam and Ginny encountered a patrolling guard but, being as the guards weren't expecting them and the fact they were under the cloak, they were easily able to escape them.

After nearly thirty minutes of searching, they found the Hermione's cell, fortunatly she was in one of the low security cells on the first level.

"_Alohomora_!" Adam cried out, immediately trying to unlock the door.

It didn't work.

"Any ideas?" Adam asked urgently.

Ginny shook her head and shrugged. "Blow it up?"

Adam pressed himself up against the large wooden door and shouted. "Hermione! If you can hear me stand away from the door!"

He then stepped back, waited nearly a minute before pointing his wand at the door and shouting. "_Expulso!_"

A bolt of light left the end of his wand and collided with the door. The door shattered with a loud bang, leaving a gaping hole and scattering dust and fragments of wood around the corridor.

Once the dust had settled, Ginny darted forward and leapt into the cell.

The first thing that struck her was just how cold the cell was, it was _freezing_. Then she saw Hermione. Her friend was curled up in a ball in the corner of the room. She looked pale, and was shivering in the cold.

"G-G-Ginny?" Hermione said. Her voice was heartbreakingly weak.

"Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed, quickly crossing the room and pulling the older girl into a hug. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I... Oh, Ginny!" Hermione, who seemed very near to tears, cried. "You came for me!" she sobbed. "I'm so cold..."

"Hermione," Adam said, moving closer to her. "Are you able to walk? We need to get moving."

"I...Harry..." Hermione began. "...Please get me out of here."

Ginny looked up at Adam, who was now pacing near the door to the cell. She knew they didn't have any time to waste, so she quickly helped Hermione to her feet. As Hermione stood, Ginny immediately saw that she was far thinner than last time they had seen her and that her clothes were ragged, ripped and filthy dirty. _She's probably still in the clothes she was wearing when she was captured,_ Ginny thought.

"Okay?" Ginny questioned, linking arms with Hermione who seemed to be unsteady of her feet.

"Y-Y-Yes," Hermione stammered. "Thanks."

Once Hermione was on her feet, the three of them grouped up, all touched the Portkey and Adam said. "Purity."

The Portkey seemed to glow for a second, but nothing else happened.

"Damn," Adam said. "I thought this might happen."

"What?" Ginny questioned.

"I think it only works from the first room we came into."

"Oh, okay," Ginny replied, then, turning to Hermione she continued. "We're going to need to walk back to the entrance. Lean on me and I'll help you."

Hermione nodded firmly. "All right," she said. "Let's go."

Now that there were three of them, they were unable to use the Invisibility Cloak to hide, so they moved slowly back through the prison with Adam in the lead and Ginny coming behind him, supporting Hermione. On their trip back through the prison, they only encountered one more guard, whom they were able to surprise and leave Stunned against the corridor wall.

"Okay," Adam said to Hermione, as they eventually emerged at the top of the staircase that would lead them back down onto the ground floor. "Just down these stairs and then we're out of here."

Sticking close together, the three of them descended the stairs, with Ginny holding Hermione carefully, making sure that she didn't fall.

"Nearly there," Adam murmured, turning back to look at her. "We're nearly there," he said with smile. Then, suddenly, his expression changed and Ginny saw flicker of fear in his eyes. Suddenly, without any further warning, Adam dived forward and shouted. "Ginny!"

Hearing Adam's shout, Ginny immediately spun around but, as she turned, she felt something impact the floor near where she was standing, sending her and Hermione crashing to the ground.

Trying to get her bearings, Ginny struggled against a weight that seemed to have landed on top of her.

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, and Ginny realised that it was Hermione was on top of her. "What's going on?"

"Get off!" Ginny snapped. "I need to help Adam!"

By the time Ginny had climbed back to her feet and pushed Hermione out of the way, Adam was crouched several stairs up from her, holding whoever was attacking them pinned down behind the banister of the floor above.

Quickly taking in what was happening around her, Ginny crouched over and sprinted towards Adam.

"What's going on?" Ginny said.

"A patrolling guard I think he's on his own," Adam replied.

"I should have kept an eye out behind us!" Ginny said bitterly. "Sorry."

"Don't worry," Adam replied. "With both of us, he won't stand a chance. Keep him pinned down for me?"

Ginny nodded and, clasping her wand, she began to send a stream of spells towards where the man was hiding.

Seeing that she now had the man pinned down, Adam started running forward, taking the steps two at a time and still firing spells. As Adam came steadily closer to him, Ginny saw that the man was casting his spells faster and faster in desperation. Then, realising that he only had a few seconds, he shot to his feet and fired a spell at Adam.

Ginny grinned and continued her onslaught of spells as Adam nimbly leapt over the guard's spell. Her grin slipped almost immediately, though, because the man's spell hit the opposite wall causing a huge explosion that knocked Adam backwards. He hit the stairs head first with a sickening _thwack._

_Adam!_ Ginny cried silently. _Get up! Get up! Please get up!_

Adam didn't move. As he lay on the floor, Ginny suddenly was overcome by a tremendous sense of fury._ How dare he hurt him!_

Not quite thinking about what she doing, Ginny leapt to her feet and charged forward, placing herself between Adam's defenceless form and the guard.

As she moved, the man fired at her, but Ginny, with little concern for her own safety being focused solely on protecting Adam, raised a shield and sent a blasting curse back his way.

"_Protego!_" She cried, as the man continued to target her. "_Expulso, Confringo! EXPULSO!_".

Her final spell came out of her mouth as a furious cry and it was so powerful that it shattered the banister and the floor of the landing where the man crouched.

As the air filled with dust, Ginny gripped her wand so tightly that her knuckles went white. Seconds passed, and no more spells came towards her. It seemed that the attack had finally ceased.

Ginny lowered her wand, suddenly finding that her hands were trembling. Shaking herself, she knelt down at Adam's side and flipped him over so he was lying on his back.

_He's breathing!_ Ginny nearly sobbed, a tremendous sense of relief washing over her.

Taking a second to collect herself, Ginny examined him for any other visible signs of injury, but the only thing she could find was a growing red lump on his forehead from where he had struck the floor.

Satisfied that he was going to be okay, Ginny took out her wand to revive him.

"G-Ginny," Hermione called faintly from behind her.

"What?" Ginny snapped, then suddenly realising that it was Hermione, she continued. "Sorry... what's wrong?"

"I..." Hermione began hesitantly. "I don't think you should revive him with a spell if he hit his head."

"You're right," Ginny said weakly.

"I..." Hermione hesitated. "I mean, I think... I think you should let him wake up on his own, it's probably safer that way."

Ginny stared at the other girl for a second. Even though Hermione didn't sound much like her old self right now, Ginny trusted her enough to know that if she told her something, she was probably right.

"Okay..." Ginny said. "Are you going to be okay? I'm going to need to levitate Adam."

Hermione nodded, and Ginny immediately set to work levitating Adam high enough off the ground so she wouldn't bump his body as they descended the stairs.

As she turned to continue down the stairs, Ginny stared at the destruction she had caused. _Had she really done that? _Then with a terrible sense of guilt she realised that she may have killed the man. _Had she accidentally killed yet another person?_

"Ginny..?" Hermione asked. "Are you okay?"

Shuddering slightly, Ginny tried to put what had happened out of her mind. They didn't have any time to check on the man, and, if he was hurt, what could they do? After all, he had been the one to attack them.

"Nothing," Ginny said sharply. "Let's go."

The two of them moved down the stairs, with Ginny levitating Adam and supporting Hermione at the same time.

When at last they reached the entrance hall, Ginny pushed open the doors and, entering the room, she visibly sagged in relief; the guards they had battled earlier were still unconscious.

"Here were are," Ginny said, lowering Adam to the floor and holding out the Portkey to Hermione. "Take hold of this."

With both herself and Hermione touching Portkey, Ginny placed Adam's limp hand onto the small metal disc. "Okay, once I say the password, we should end up back the visitors' office. With a bit of luck everyone should still be unconscious and we can escape back through the Floo."

Hermione nodded to her, and gripping her wand just in case, Ginny said. "Purity."

**Adam  
January 25th 1998**

His head hurt.

It was pounding like he could never remember it pounding before.

The next thing he realised was that he was lying in a bed.

_What had happened?_

He thought back: the last thing he could remember was fighting on the stairs in Azkaban. _So how come he was now lying on a bed?_

"Is he still asleep?" a voice asked.

"Yes," a familiar voice replied, and Adam felt his heart leap at the sound of Ginny's voice. _If she was here then they were both okay!_

"And he's not pale any more, thank goodness," she continued. "But how are you, Hermione?"

_That's it! The other person was Hermione! Then they had rescued her!_

"I feel so much better now that I've had a shower. Thank you so much for letting me borrow some of your clothes. They're a little tight, but much better than what I had."

"No problem, Hermione," Ginny said in a happy sounding voice.

"I feel so stuffed," Hermione continued. "I've eaten so much."

"Hermione, they didn't exactly feed you much, did they?" Ginny continued. "So you have every right to be hungry."

Adam heard Hermione chuckle in reply to this and then both of the girls were quiet.

"Why did you come for me, Ginny?" Hermione asked suddenly.

"Why would you ask me that?" Ginny replied. "You're our friend, Hermione. It was our fault that you were caught."

"How is that?" Hermione replied, sounding more like her old self now. "You didn't give me up to the Death Eaters. This job Dumbledore left you to do; surely it's more important than rescuing me!"

"We wanted to rescue you, Hermione!" Ginny said, and Adam recognised the signs that she was starting to get angry.

"It was a stupid idea!" Hermione snapped back. "You should have done the job Dumbledore set you and then I'd have been free anyway!"

That was about as much as Adam could tolerate.

"D-Don't talk to Ginny like that!" Adam tried to say, but it came out as croak.

Once he'd spoken it was almost as if the argument between them had been forgotten, because both girls were instantly at his side.

"Adam!" Ginny said, planting tender kisses on his face. "You're awake!"

"Y-Yeah," Adam croaked. He tried to sit up, only to be pushed back down into the bed by Ginny.

"Rest," She ordered.

Adam chuckled in reply. "Yes, boss. So... Hermione, don't we get a 'thank you' for rescuing you?" He continued, trying to put an accusing tone in his voice, but unsure if he actually succeeded.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione exclaimed. "I am grateful! I'm so grateful! I was just saying in the grand scheme of things it might not have been the smartest thing to do."

"It was the right thing to do!" Adam responded. "I'm not sorry."

They all fell into an uncomfortable silence.

"So," Ginny, who was now perched on the bed next to his shoulders, began talking again, breaking the silence. "Hermione, what actually happened? How did you get captured?"

Adam looked at Hermione, who was perched at the foot of his bed, and was beginning to look uncomfortable. "Well," she replied. "I saw some of the new Aurors nosing around the hotel my parents and I were staying at. I tried to get away so they wouldn't hurt Mum and Dad, but..." she faltered. "They caught me. I ... I didn't fight in the end, there were too many of them."

Adam nodded in understanding.

"Do, do you want to try and get in contact with your parents?"

"I..." Hermione began. "I do, but I won't. I want to help you, and going back to my parents is a massive risk, for them and me."

"Are you sure?" Ginny responded.

"Yes," Hermione said decisively. "I'm sorry I was so rude to earlier, Ginny. You are both amazing friends and now that I'm here I'm going to help you."

At Hermione's announcement, Adam made eye contact with Ginny, and seeing her nodding, he nodded back. They probably shouldn't tell her everything, but the extra help would be very welcome.

"Okay," Ginny replied. "Thank you."

"No," Hermione began. "Thank you."

"But you don't have a wand," Adam suddenly realised. With Ollivander gone he had no idea how they could get her another wand.

"Well..." Hermione began, suddenly pulling a wand out of her pocket. "It's not brilliant, but I grabbed it off the guy we Stunned on the way back to the staircase. It didn't choose me, but it seemed to be okay for Drying Charms, so I think it should work reasonably well."

"Brilliant," Adam commented. Trust Hermione to be on her toes only moments after being rescued from her cell. "I guess... welcome aboard, Hermione."


	14. Chapter 13

**Ron  
February 2nd 1998**

Ron had come to a realisation: the situation at Hogwarts was worsening. It hadn't been a sudden change, but, over the last few weeks, things had slowly been getting more oppressive and intimidating.

It had all started with the arrival of the new 'School Wardens', which were, in reality, Death Eaters sent to ensure the behaviour of the students and teachers. It wasn't uncommon to find them in the Great Hall at mealtimes, or present in Transfiguration or Charms lessons monitoring the two teachers that Snape considered the greatest threat to his rule; McGonagall and Flitwick. When not monitoring classes, these wardens patrolled the school's corridors and Ron knew, from what he'd heard from the others in the DA, that being caught out after curfew usually resulted in a trip to the Hospital Wing. The only good thing Ron could think of was that the wardens didn't intrude into the common rooms, although he wasn't confident that this would last.

Secondly, Snape had now started questioning students. Nearly every day, one or two people would be taken into the Headmaster's office and questioned as to the whereabouts of their missing Muggle-born friends.

The people who were called in for questioning invariably came out of it pale, shaken and terrified. Helping these students had become one of the new missions of the DA. If they couldn't do anything openly, then they would certainly help those that the Carrows and Snape were terrorising.

"Weasley, Longbottom," Snape's drawling voice disturbed Ron from his breakfast, making him scatter orange juice all over the table. "You and Longbottom will come to my office at lunchtime."

"Sir?" Ron asked, trying to keep anxiety out of his voice. He'd known it was only a matter of time until he was called to Snape's office. In fact, now that he thought about it, he might be able to use this to his advantage.

"Are you even listening to me, Weasley?" Snape continued. "Or are you just going to continue gawking at me? Surely the order 'come to the Headmaster's office at lunchtime with Longbottom' isn't such a difficult concept to understand. In fact," he paused. "I'm sure the Gryffindors will be glad to escape your atrocious table manners for one meal."

"Y-," Ron stammered, trying to collect his wits and come up with a plan. "Yes, sir."

Snape nodded at him and then, turning on his heels, he strode out of the Great Hall with his robes billowing behind him.

Once Snape was gone, Ron turned to Neville, who was now looking extremely nervous at the prospect of an interrogation from Snape.

"What...What do you suppose they want to talk to us about?" he asked.

"Ginny, or Adam I expect," Ron replied. "They're about the most wanted people right now... well, apart from Harry Potter, of course."

"Could be Hermione, too," Neville added. "I haven't heard anything to suggest she's been caught. In fact," Neville paused breaking into a smile. "If they question us about anyone it's a sign that they're still on the run and that must be a good thing."

"You're right," Ron replied, suddenly feeling brighter. He was pretty sure that Adam and Ginny were okay, they were with Harry, but Hermione... Ron wasn't so sure about her. "But listen, I've got an idea," he continued, stealing a glance over at the Ravenclaw table and realising with alarm that Luna seemed to be finishing off her breakfast. "But I need to speak to Luna first. I'll meet you in Transfiguration."

Neville nodded in response, and Ron, trying to act as casually as possible, stood up from the table and began wandering towards the doors. He _needed _to speak to Luna, but he also needed to make it look like he didn't _need _to speak to her.

As it happened, Ron managed to beat Luna out of the Great Hall and so he waited for her by the main staircase.

"Luna," he said in a low voice. "Can we walk together?"

"Of course, Ron!" Luna said brightly and Ron sighed. Luna didn't quite grasp the idea of secrecy.

The two of them began walking up the stairs and, as they walked, Ron began speaking, trying to look as if they were just two friends chatting. "Neville and I have been called to Snape's office..."

"Oh no!" Luna exclaimed interrupting him. "What..."

"No, listen," Ron interrupted earnestly. "This is the perfect opportunity. We've been thinking about how we can get into Snape's office and now I've been invited in!"

"But how does that help us?" Luna questioned. "Are you going to steal the Hat with Snape there?"

"Of course not," Ron replied. "That's where you come in. I need you to cause a distraction at lunch and see if we can get Snape to go and sort it out."

"What do you want me to do?" Luna questioned uncertainly.

"I..." Ron hesitated. "I don't know, cause chaos, play a prank...just be yourself."

"Oh," Luna said, falling silent for a second. "Okay... I can think of something, I guess."

"Brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, glancing at his watch and realising he was now five minutes late for his lesson. "Right, I must get to Transfiguration. Good luck!"

With that, Ron dashed off towards Professor McGonagall's classroom. If he was lucky Professor McGonagall wouldn't take points off him for being late.

Transfiguration was, as usual, an informative lesson, despite the fact that Professor McGonagall was on edge due to the presence of a one of Snape's Death Eaters in her classroom.

Once their Transfiguration double had finished, Ron and Neville sat around the common room, watching the clock. Then, finally, just before lunch was due to start, the two of them stood up and walked apprehensively down to the Headmaster's office.

As they walked, Ron began to feel doubts creeping into his mind. What if the plan failed? What if Snape didn't fall for the trick? His stomach dropped when he realised he might have condemned Luna to a painful detention with the Carrows. _Why did I rush into this without thinking?_ _It's never going to work!_ But then, with a sigh, Ron realised it was too late for second thoughts. They had reached the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Snape's office and, as they approached, it slid aside for them immediately.

"He's obviously expecting us," Neville commented.

Shrugging at Neville, Ron led the way up the staircase. As he climbed the stairs he felt a strange sense of excitement form in his stomach. If they somehow managed to do this, if they could steal the hat, then they would have helped Harry fulfil his mission, and, hopefully, have helped in overthrowing You-Know-Who.

At the top of the stairs there was a second door and when they reached it, Ron paused, looking back at Neville.

"You ready?" he asked and, raising his hand and knocking on the door.

"Enter," Snape's voice came from the other side of the door.

Ron and Neville trooped into the room. Snape was seated at the desk, writing something on a piece of parchment.

"Wait," he commanded without looking up.

Ron and Neville glanced at each other uneasily and waited while Snape ignored their presence. As they waited, Ron looked around the office. The first thing his eyes were drawn to was the large portrait of Professor Dumbledore that hung behind Snape's desk. However, the Professor Dumbledore in the portrait didn't seem to be awake.__

I'd be sleeping too, Ron thought._ If Snape was the only company I had._

"So, Weasley, Longbottom," Snape said, suddenly turning to face them. "Stand in front of my desk."

Not daring to disobey, Ron and Neville obediently moved to stand in front of the Headmaster's desk.

"I have brought you two here to discuss Hermione Granger," Snape said bluntly.

At this, Ron's insides leapt for joy. _If Snape was asking about Hermione then she hadn't been captured!_

"Er..." Neville began. "We haven't seen her since the end of the last school year."

"I know _that_, Longbottom!" Snape snapped. "I want you to tell me everything you know of her family. Weasley, have you ever been to visit her home?"

"No, sir," Ron replied. "She always came to us. I've only ever seen her parents a couple of times in Diagon Alley."

Snape growled under his breath. "Did she ever mention any frequent holiday destinations, or any relatives that they visited?"

Ron paused, making sure what he was about to say could in no way lead to Hermione being discovered. "I don't know about relatives... but I think she went skiing once."

Snape stared at him for a second, before scribbling something down on a piece of parchment.

"Now..." Snape began, but, before he could continue, he was interrupted by the door to the office being thrown open.

"What is the meaning of this interruption?" Snape shouted, leaping to his feet. "Oh... Minerva."

"Severus," Professor McGonagall said stiffly. "You need to come down to the Great Hall."

At this pronouncement, Ron silently celebrated. _Luna had done it!_

"Why?" Snape asked.

"Miss Lovegood has done something very odd with the food."

"I am very busy, Minerva," Snape said loftily. "Can someone else not deal with it?"

"You have made it quite clear, Severus, that I'm not _allowed_ to discipline students outside of the classroom anymore, there is no sign of your esteemed deputies and I refuse to allow the hired muscle you have in the hall to do it. So," Professor McGonagall paused, raising an eyebrow. "I'm to allow this prank to go unpunished?"

At this Snape growled under his breath. "Very well, I will deal with it!" he snarled. "You," he continued, pointing to Ron and Neville. "Stay here. I am not finished with you yet. You," he said turning to Professor McGonagall. "Make sure there's no... mischief."

Once Snape had stormed out of the room, Professor McGonagall harrumphed loudly. "Who does he think he is..." she muttered. "Well," she continued. "He wants me to make sure there's no mischief but he will not allow me to issue detentions or take points outside of my class!" She looked Ron and Neville in the eye. "I think I'll watch for mischief in the comfort of my office, thank you very much! I suggest you two come with me," with that she turned and began making her way out of the office.

_This is my chance!_ Ron realised suddenly. So, as Neville also moved towards the doorway, he dashed over to the set of shelves at the back of the room and grabbed the Sorting Hat.

"Mr. Weasley!" Professor McGonagall shouted from the doorway. "What are you doing?"

"Coming, Professor," Ron called and, hiding the hat behind his back, he dashed towards the door.

Professor McGonagall led the way down the stairs and when they reached the bottom, Ron stood with his back against the wall, waiting for Professor McGonagall to leave.

"Are you okay, Mr. Weasley?" She asked, then suddenly her eyes narrowed. "What are you up to?"

"Er..." Ron stammered. "I..."

"No," Professor McGonagall said briskly. "Actually, I don't think I want to know. Good day, boys."

"Wow," Neville commented, as Professor McGonagall walked briskly away from them. "McGonagall really can't stand Snape can she? I can't believe she's letting us get away with doing this!"

Ron couldn't help but laugh. "She's brilliant."

"So," Neville asked. "What now?"

"We need to hide the Hat until we can get it to Harry," Ron said.

Neville nodded. "Room of Requirement?" he suggested.

"That's what I was thinking, let's go."

Relieved that their plan was going so well, Ron and Neville charged into the castle and dashed up the stairs to the seventh floor.

"What sort of room do we want?" Neville asked. "I don't think we can keep it in the normal DA room."

"Hmm," Ron murmured, then he stepped forward and began to pace back and forward in front of the tapestry.

_I need a place to hide the Sorting Hat._

I need a place to hide the Sorting Hat.

I need a place to hide the Sorting Hat.

As he finished the final thought, a set of doors materialised and Ron and Neville quickly stepped through.

"Whoa!" Neville exclaimed, as he took in their room that had been created. "This is huge!"

Ron stared open mouthed at the room, it was even bigger than the Great Hall with huge windows which sent shafts of light down upon piles of ... _things_.

"It's bloody enormous!" Ron agreed, gazing around the room. "And look at all this stuff!"

The room was piled high with various objects, presumably hidden here over the years. In-amongst the piles, there were alleyways and roads that led deeper into the vast room and, as Ron began to walk deeper into it, it felt a lot like he was entering a maze.

As Ron walked, passing piles of broken and damaged furniture, he wondered if everything here had been hidden to perhaps, hide the evidence of magical accidents. There were thousands and thousands of books, no doubt banned. He saw winged catapults and Fanged Frisbees, some still with enough life in them to hover half-heartedly over the mountains of other forbidden items. There were chipped bottles of congealed potions, hats, jewels, cloaks; there were what looked like dragon eggshells, corked bottles whose contents still shimmered evilly, several rusting swords, and a heavy, bloodstained axe.

"Wow..." Neville said, almost completely speechless as he stared at the contraband all around them. "Wow."

"Let's get this hidden," Ron said, and he hurried forward into one of the many alleyways between all this hidden treasure.

Jogging down the alleyway, he turned right past an enormous stuffed troll, ran on a short way, and took a left at a strange cabinet, finally pausing beside a large cupboard that seemed to have had acid thrown at its blistered surface. He opened one of the cupboard's creaking doors. Then, taking one last look at the Hat, he stuffed it behind a cage containing a skeleton and slammed the door.

"Remember the way?" Ron queried to Neville. They needed to be able to find it again when Harry came.

"Yes," Neville nodded. "But..." he hesitated. "Just to make sure."

Neville seized the chipped bust of an ugly old warlock from on top of a nearby crate, and stood it on top of the cupboard where the Hat was now hidden. He then perched a dusty old wig and a tarnished tiara on the statue's head.

"Nice one," Ron commented. "We can't miss it now! Let's get back to the common room. If we're quick, hopefully they shouldn't be able to pin it on us."

Ron and Neville sprinted as quickly as they could out of the Room of Requirement and the back to Gryffindor Tower. When they reached the common room they charged upstairs, grabbed their school bags and attempted to make it look like they had been revising the whole time.

Everything was going well until, five minutes later, the Portrait was flung open and Amycus Carrow stormed into the common room, with Professor McGonagall hot on his heels.

As the Death Eater entered the common room, the entire room seemed to gasp. Neither of the Carrows had been into the Gryffindor common room, and it was unsettling to know that they could get in so easily.

"WEASLEY! LONGBOTTOM!" Carrow roared, instantly focusing on them and charging across the room.

Before Ron could draw his wand, before he could even react, Carrow reached him and suddenly, Ron found himself flying through the air. He flew across the room and struck the wall, _hard_. His elbows and shoulders struck first and pain shot up and down his arms causing him to cry out.

Less than a second after he hit the wall, Neville struck the wall next to him and, from the way Neville seemed to be struggling, Ron guessed that he was currently experiencing the same feeling of being pressed painfully against the wall by invisible weights.

"WHERE IS IT?" Carrow roared, moving so he was standing less than a foot from Ron and pointing his wand alternatively at the two Gryffindors.

Ron struggled against the wall, but with the pain of being pressed against it and the shooting pains that were still present in his arms, he couldn't do anything.

"I SAID, WHERE IS IT?" Carrow roared again.

"Professor Carrow!" Another voice rang out, but this time it was Professor McGonagall. "I am afraid that I must insist you release these students. I will have no violence in my common room."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Carrow said derisively to Professor McGonagall.

"Do not," Professor McGonagall began and Ron suddenly realised she had her wand in her hand. "Take for me some defenceless old woman! Many young upstarts have tested me, to their own peril."

"Well, Minerva," another female voice spoke and, much to Ron's disappointment, Alecto Carrow stepped in through the portrait hole with her wand pointed at Professor McGonagall. "I suspect these young upstarts you speak of were not as well versed in certain arts as my brother and I. I fear that it is you who is in peril here."

Professor McGonagall hesitated. "I..." she began, then seeming to collect herself, she called. "Gryffindors! To your rooms and lock the doors! Now!"

The majority of the students obeyed her immediately and, in seconds, the room was empty apart from a few older students, DA members, Ron, Neville and the adults.

"I told you to go to your rooms!" Professor McGonagall snapped, seeing that some of the Gryffindors had remained behind.

"We're not leaving!" Seamus replied defiantly.

"So, Minerva?" Alecto gloated. "You don't wish your Gryffindors to see you humiliated? Oh well...," Carrow paused as if savouring the moment. "Do continue, brother."

"So, Weasley," Amycus said, stepping forward and pointing his wand once again at Ron's throat, "Tell me where it is!"

"Don't..." Ron gasped. "I don't know what you mean!"

Ron saw Amycus' lip curl in anger and he surged forward, pressing his wand into Ron's temple and wrapping his hand around his throat, practically cutting of his air supply.

"Tell me, or you'll suffer!" Carrow snarled.

"No!" Professor McGonagall cried. "Release him this instant!"

"What is going on in here?" A new voice roared, and now Snape swept into the common room, he was followed by one of the wardens who was holding a struggling Luna.

"Severus," Professor McGonagall said. "Command your lackey to unhand Mr. Weasley immediately and tell this _woman_ to remove her wand from my back!"

"Amycus, release them. Alecto lower your wand!" Snape ordered. "Do you want a bloody rebellion on your hands? Try and use your brains occasionally!"

The two Carrows looked completely appalled at the orders they had been given, but they reluctantly obeyed and Ron soon felt himself lowered to the floor.

"Now," Snape said. "What is going on?"

"These two," McGonagall began.

"Silence, Minerva," Snape said casually. "I wasn't speaking to you. Amycus, what is going on?"

"He won't admit that he took it," Amycus told Snape. "I was about to loosen his tongue."

"Have you searched the tower?"

Both of the Carrows looked back at Snape blankly.

"Incompetents!" Snape exclaimed. "Search Gryffindor Tower from top to bottom! If they've hidden it it'll probably be here."

The Carrows continued to stare at Snape, and, finally, Alecto spoke. "What about these two?"

"I will deal with them. You two go," he said, pointing to the Carrows. "And you," he said pointing to the warden. "Leave Lovegood here and tear this tower apart until the Sorting Hat is found!"

Once the Carrows and the warden had gone, Snape rounded on Ron.

"I know you took it, Weasley," he snarled. "And I know you were in on this prank, too, Lovegood. My patience will only last so long. You will have detention every day until it is found. You had better hope it is found before my patience runs out."

Then, completely ignoring Professor McGonagall, Snape turned and swept back out through the portrait.

"Well," Professor McGonagall said, her voice laced with stress. "I certainly hope you three have a good reason for doing what you did," she began. "You've endangered the rest of the school and put yourselves in so much danger that I..." she hesitated. "I don't think I'm going to be able to help you out of it."

"Professor," Ron replied. "There is a good reason. I..." Ron paused, not knowing quite what to say.

"I understand, Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall replied. "You have certainly proved yourself this year and if you say you have a good reason then, for now, that is enough for me. If you are working for whom I suspect you are working for, then I have to assume this is part of some larger plan. I just hope that Snape doesn't decide to take this out on the school as a whole. If he does, expect me to be asking more questions," she sighed. "Now. I need to go and make sure they don't do too much damage while searching the tower. I would suggest you make yourselves scarce. Without Snape to rein them in, the Carrows are extremely dangerous. Fortunately, our illustrious Headmaster does at least understand if blood is split in the school, especially Pure-blood, then it will cause significant issues for him."

"I..." Ron began. "Thanks for sticking up for us, Professor."

"I will always stick up for you Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall said. "But I do not think the time for open rebellion has come yet. However, the Death Eaters can push us only so far, as Snape is well aware," then her lips quirked upwards almost in a smile. "Remember, we have them outnumbered in the school. The only question is how many students will side with Snape..."

Ron paused, he hadn't thought of it that way, he was pretty sure all of Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw would side with McGonagall, but, apart from the DA, how many of them would actually be of any use if it came to a fight?

**February 2nd 1998**

The next evening, Ron, Neville and Luna waited anxiously outside Amycus Carrow's classroom. Tonight was their first detention.

"Okay," Ron said. "Whatever happens, we stick together, yeah?"

"Yes," Neville replied.

"Together," Luna added.

"Well, that is charming," the voice of Amycus Carrow came through the door as it opened. "We could hear your little unity speech from inside. Now, come on in."

As Ron entered the room with Luna and Neville, he felt a strong sense of foreboding. _This was going to be bad._

Once they were in the room, they were made to line up against one wall. As Ron looked around the room, he noticed, with alarm, that both of the Carrows were in the room.

"Now, the Headmaster has been called to a meeting, and he thought we should postpone this detention, but I feel confident that we manage in his absence."

_Oh, no!_ Ron thought. _As much as I hate Snape, he's at least not as focused on hurting us as the Carrows are._

Carrow continued, "I think for tonight we will practice some Dark Arts."

Ron stared angrily at Carrow. _What are they going to make us do?_

"I think the Cruciatus Curse would be appropriate. Mr. Weasley, take out your wand and practice on Miss Lovegood."

"What?" Ron gasped. "No!"

"She will feel the curse, be it from your wand or mine," Amycus said, pointing his wand at Luna and then back at Ron. "Unless of course, you wish to tell me where you put the Sorting Hat? It's your choice."

"Don't do it, Ronald!" Luna exclaimed suddenly. "If you do it you'll be as bad as them!"

Ron hesitated, then, after a moments thought, he moved his hand towards his wand. _I can't tell them where the Hat is, but surely it'll be easier on Luna if I do the curse?_ He thought.

"No, Ron!" Luna shouted again. Then, without warning she collapsed to the floor with a heart-rending scream.

"Luna!" Neville cried, rushing towards her.

As Neville began to cross the room, he too fell to the floor and screamed as his limbs twitched violently.

Ron stood there feeling completely appalled at what these supposed _teachers_ were doing to his friends.

"Leave them alone!" he screamed at the Carrows. "Just leave them alone!"

"Tell us where the Hat is!" Alecto Carrow shouted, apparently taking some sort of perverse please from the torture.

"Stop!" Ron pleaded, "Just stop hurting them!"

Then, much to his surprise, the torture stopped and Neville and Luna's screams ceased. Ron immediately charged forward, anxious to help his friends, but, before he'd even gotten three paces towards them, tremendous pain wracked his body, sending him crashing to the floor.

Ron screamed, he writhed and screamed some more. The pain wouldn't stop. He couldn't think. He couldn't control his body. It was all too much. It had to end. It needed to end... _Please just let me go! I don't want to do this anymore!_

The pain stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Gratefully, Ron opened his eyes and found Neville and Luna crouched next to him.

"Ron," Neville, who was looking extremely shaken and pale, said. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Y-Yes..." Ron managed to stammer.

"Step back!" Amycus Carrow said silkily. "I've not finished with your illustrious leader yet."

_Oh no!_ Ron despaired._ I don't think I can... I can't..._

Neville and Luna didn't move. Carrow's threat only seemed to spur them on and they both stood directly in front of Ron.

"If you want him you'll have to get through me!" Neville snarled.

"Oh look, Alecto!" Amycus crowed. "They're sticking together!"

From his position sprawled on the floor, Ron glared at the Death Eater with a look of complete hatred.

"So," Alecto began speaking. "Now that you've all experienced a taste of what we have to offer, are you sure you don't want to tell us where you hid the Sorting Hat?"

"No!" Ron spat. "Get stuffed!"

The only answer Ron received, was the return of the dreaded pain from the Cruciatus Curse, but, this time, it only lasted about a second and Ron was suddenly aware that not only was he free of the pain, but Neville was screaming instead.

"Neville!" Ron cried. "No!"

Then Luna began screaming as Amycus Carrow joined in, and he saw her collapse on the floor, landing practically on top of Neville.

At the sight of his friends' pain Ron saw red. He leapt to his feet and despite the pain in his limbs, all his attention was focused on getting to the Carrows and forcing them to stop. He drew his wand and charged at the Carrows, but before he was even half way across the room, he felt something impact with his stomach. With a cry of surprise, he flew through the air and hit the nearest wall with a bone-crunching thud.

Then the world spun, pain enveloped his entire body and then there was nothing.

The next thing Ron knew, he opened his eyes and found himself looking straight up at Luna's face.

"Oh, good!" She exclaimed. "We weren't sure how long you were going to sleep."

"W-Wha..?" Ron slurred, feeling stiff, sluggish and confused.

"You're in the hospital wing," A voice said from somewhere out of his eye line and Ron turned his head to see Neville sitting in a nearby chair.

"What happened?" he queried.

"You broke your arm," Luna said simply. "The bone was even sticking out. Although, it wasn't quite what I imaged a bone to look like though."

Despite everything, Ron chuckled. He knew that if Luna was back to her quirky ways, she couldn't have been hurt too badly.

"What about you guys?" Ron asked.

"We're fine," Neville replied. "Just some aches and pains."

Ron nodded. "Wha..." he yawned widely, suddenly feeling incredibly tired. "Huh..."

"Madam Pomfrey had to give you some painkillers, she said it might make you sleep," Neville supplied.

"Oh," Ron replied drowsily. "So..." he questioned. "Did they just let us go?"

"Oh yes," Luna replied. "I think when they realised you were hurt they were worried Snape would find out."

"Really?"

Before either Luna or Neville could reply, Madam Pomfrey appeared in Ron's eye-line.

"I think I have to agree with Miss Lovegood's theory," the matron replied. "I've just had a very interesting conversation with our deputy headmaster. He's informed me that you were injured while taking an unauthorised fly."

"What!" Neville exclaimed. "But that's not..."

"I'm quite aware of what happened, Mr. Longbottom," Madam Pomfrey interrupted briskly. "Unfortunately, I am not allowed contact with anyone outside of the school in case I decide to inform any parents about injuries that may occur. I don't have any choice but to accept their orders. At least obeying their orders..." she shuddered. "As much as I hate it, if I follow their rules I'm at least here to help students recover. If I disobey them..." she fell silent, and stared into space for a second. "If I disobey them, I'm afraid they'll decide the school doesn't need me and then who will heal the injuries they inflict?"

Ron couldn't argue with that, at least with Madam Pomfrey here people could get medical attention.

"For now, Mr. Weasley," Madam Pomfrey continued. "You can stay here overnight, but you two need to get back to your common rooms before curfew. I don't want you two ending up in here as well."

The trio looked as each other and, after a few seconds hesitation, Ron nodded. "I'll be fine. Nev, will you see Luna back to Ravenclaw Tower?"

"Sure," Neville replied faintly. "We'll pop up before breakfast."

"Thanks," Ron answered with a tried smile. "At least if they make us go to detention tomorrow we'll have Snape," he laughed. "I never though I'd be glad that I had detention with Snape."  
**  
Adam  
February 6th 1998**

"_Stupefy!_" Ginny said, leaping forward and sending a Stunner at Hermione.

"_Protego!_" Hermione cried.

Hermione's shield easily absorbed Ginny's Stunning Spell and she immediately replied with a Stunner of her own.

Ginny, having seen the spell coming, agilely leapt to one side and replied. "_Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!_"

Three Stunners one after the other were far too much for Hermione's shield and it collapsed under the onslaught, forcing Hermione to dive frantically to her left, where she tripped and landed on the ground with a thump.

Ginny, taking advantage of Hermione's vulnerable position, quickly ran towards her and when Hermione pulled herself to her feet, she was soon held at wand point by Ginny.

"I win," Ginny said with a wide smile, lowering her wand and helping Hermione to her feet.

"Brilliant job, both of you!" Adam praised.

"I lost though..." Hermione said, looking downcast.

"Yeah, but your spells were excellent. Ginny won because she has more experience. You rely too much on shields when you should try jumping and dodging spells."

"Oh," Hermione replied, still looking downcast.

"You were really good though," Ginny praised. "If you had just dived out of the way instead of trying to protect yourself against my last lot of Stunners then you'd have had time to do it properly and wouldn't have tripped. You might have even been able to Stun me back before I was ready."

"Thanks," Hermione replied. "I'll remember all this. I will be better next time."

"I know you will," Adam answered.

"But..." Hermione interrupted. "Am I good enough?"

Adam sighed. That really was the question. Hermione had pleaded to be allowed to go with them when they tried to break into Malfoy Manor, but Adam had refused unless she could prove she could defend herself.

Adam glanced over at Ginny and saw her nodding her head. He thought for a second, then coming to a decision, he replied. "Yes, I suppose you are."

At this, Hermione grinned. "I won't let you down."

"I know you won't," Adam replied. "Now, shall we head back?"

"Yeah," Hermione replied. "We still have more aerial photographs to go over. I'm convinced that, as it's bound to be hidden from Muggles, the manor will appear on the photographs as ruins. It's what wizards always use."

Adam nodded. To her credit, Hermione had come up with an excellent idea for locating Malfoy Manor. Firstly, she knew that the Manor was in was in Wiltshire. Then, she had been able to use a Muggle library in London to acquire aerial photographs of large areas of the county.

However, it wasn't an ideal situation. So far they had found three likely sets of ruins and they weren't even half way through the maps of the county yet. By the end of their search, Adam knew that they would have to go out and physically check each of the deserted ruins and, hopefully, one of them would be Malfoy Manor.

**Ron  
February 6th 1998**

Ron was dozing in one of the chairs in the Gryffindor common room. He was absolutely exhausted. He had lessons, DA meetings, plus he was in detention pretty much every night.

After their first detention, Snape has insisted on splitting the three of them up. Some evenings they had detention with Snape himself, some evenings they had detention with the Carrows and some evenings they had detentions with Hagrid.

As much as the detentions with Hagrid were a very welcome break, the detentions with Snape and the Carrows were hard to cope with and, even after only four detentions, he wasn't sure how long he was going to be able to cope with them.

"Ron!" A voice and the feeling of someone shaking him woke him with a start.

"Wha?" Ron said, shaking himself awake. He blinked and saw one of the other Gryffindors, Demelza Robins, standing in front of him. "Padma is outside. She wants to speak to you."

That got Ron's attention. _What was Padma doing here?_ _Why had she risked sneaking all the way over to the Gryffindor common room?_

Jumping to his feet, Ron dashed across to the portrait hole and ushered Padma inside.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Luna's disappeared," Padma answered immediately. "She didn't come back from her detention."

"We've got to go out and look for her!" Ron exclaimed, suddenly feeling a terrible sense of worry forming. Something bad had happened, he just knew it.

"We..." Padma said, swallowing. "We've already been out; Anthony, Terry and I. We checked the hospital wing, the Carrow's room and the Room of Requirement."

Ron just stared blankly straight ahead. "I can't think of anywhere else..." he said softly. "I was with Hagrid tonight and Neville was with Snape."

"Neither could we," Padma replied. "And... and, it's just getting too dangerous to spend too long in the corridors, even for Prefects."

Ron was silent once again. Trying to come up with a plan, something, anything, they could do to help Luna.

"We," Padma continued. "We found this in Luna's room. I think... we think this is why... why she's gone."

Ron stared down at what Padma had just pulled out of the pocket of her robes. It was a copy of the crazy magazine that Luna's dad published: _The Quibbler_.

Quickly grabbing it from Padma, Ron read the title:

**The Truth Behind the Death of Albus Dumbledore**

"Oh...no," Ron mumbled. "Did he not know how much trouble printing something like this would get him in?"

Before Ron could read anymore of the article, the portrait hole opened and he hurriedly stuffed _the Quibbler_ behind his back.

"Ron?" Neville exclaimed, nearly bumping into him and Padma. "Padma! What's going on?"

"Get in and close the portrait," Ron ordered and, as Neville stepped fully inside Gryffindor tower, Ron noticed that he was hobbling. "You okay?" Ron asked with concern.

"Yeah," Neville answered. "My leg's beginning to act up. I'll be fine, but..." he paused. "Something's happened, hasn't it?"

"We think–" Padma beginning, choking back a sob. "We think Luna's been kidnapped."

"Kidnapped!" Neville exclaimed loudly.

"Ssh!" Ron hissed. "Take a look at this."

Ron then withdrew the copy of the Quibbler and held it out so Neville and he could read.

**The Truth Behind the Death of Albus Dumbledore**  
**_-Was Adam Winters framed?  
-Was it all a plot by You-Know-Who?  
-Is our Minister for Magic working for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?_**  
**Inside: The truth behind the greatest conspiracy of our time revealed.**  
**Also never before information about the Boy-Who-Lived: Harry Potter**.

Neville groaned loudly. "They've probably taken Luna so her dad starts printing what they want," he sighed. "It's probably the same crazy stuff that's always in there but this is close enough to the truth to probably worry them."

Ron could only nod in response.

"What can we do?" Padma exclaimed.

"I ..." Ron hesitated, hating what he was about to say. "I'll speak to Professor McGonagall to see if she can help, but if Luna has been taken by the Death Eaters, there's probably nothing we can do."

"But we need to do something! We're like captives here for them to take as soon as our families do something they don't like."

"I know..." Ron said thinking hard. He should have seen this coming. He should have been able to do something to protect Luna. "We need to have a DA meeting and we need to think of way to hide people if we think they're going to be taken."

"We need some way to get people out if we need to," Padma said thoughtfully, "a way for people to escape if they have to. So they can get back to their families."

"That's exactly what we need, but how we can do that?" Ron replied. "I just don't know."

Hogwarts was supposed to be one of the safest places in the Wizarding world. If that was true, how in Merlin's name would they be able to sneak people out of the school? Then, as he was thinking, his mind drifted back to his conversation with Ginny on the way to school after Christmas. She'd seem pretty confident that she and Harry could get into Hogwarts. So, if they could get in, then there must be a way to get people out.

All Ron had to do was find it.


	15. Chapter 14

**Adam**  
**February 23rd 1998**

After more than two weeks of planning and searching, Adam, Ginny and Hermione were following up one of their last remaining leads on the location of Malfoy Manor.

Over the last week, they had searched five ruins. All of which had been exactly what they appeared to be on the aerial photographs, ruins.

The current ruin they were investigating was one of only three remaining sites in Wiltshire. They were running out of options and Adam was already beginning to think about what they would do if all of these ruins proved to be dead ends.

"How far now?" Adam asked Hermione as the three of them trudged down the verge of a small road in the growing darkness of the evening.

"Not far," Hermione answered, glancing down at the map she had drawn. "On the map in town it showed the ruins in a field, just past a cross roads."

"Cross roads?" Ginny queried. "We haven't seen a crossroads."

"We haven't passed it yet," Hermione answered. "Don't worry, it shouldn't be too far ahead now. When we passed that farmhouse about ten minutes ago we should have been about half way there."

Ginny harrumphed and quickened her pace, striding off in front of Adam and Hermione.

Sensing that Ginny wasn't happy, Adam quickly stepped forward until he was walking at her side and clasped her hand.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked.

"Yeah," Ginny sighed. "I ..." she began. "Sorry, I'm just being silly."

"No, no," Adam said as they continued. "I want to know. Have I done something?"

"Yes," Ginny began. "No..." then she growled under her breath. "I've been feeling a bit useless since we rescued Hermione. The two of you have been working on finding the manor and I just feel..."

"Oh, Ginny..." Adam began. "I'm sorry."

"No!" Ginny exclaimed. "It's not your fault. If anything, it's my fault..."

"What do you mean?" Adam asked, then suddenly it occurred to him. He hadn't worn the locket for several days. "The locket!" He exclaimed, lowering his voice so that Hermione wouldn't hear. "I didn't take my last turn..."

"You were so busy..." Ginny added.

"We all were," Adam said. "I should have remembered. It's not fair on you."

"I should have given it to you," Ginny responded, and then sighed. "Are we seriously arguing over this?"

Adam chuckled in response. "You're right. Do you want me to wear it for a bit?"

Ginny hesitated. "I...I left it in the tent."

"What?" Adam exclaimed.

"I thought it was better there, that way if the person who's wearing it gets caught we don't loose everything."

Adam stared at Ginny in admiration. _She really was amazing!_ He quickly put his arm around her, and pulled her close. "That's... " he said. "That's brilliant. I..." he hesitated. "I never even thought about it."

Ginny blushed. "I think it should be safe..." she began, still blushing furiously. "I hid it in with my underwear. I didn't think anyone would ever look there."

"It's still brilliant," Adam said. "You're brilliant."

Ginny didn't say anything in response to that, and the two of them continued walking.

"Harry, Ginny!" Hermione suddenly called out, suddenly sprinting forward so she was standing next to the couple. "You see that sign just ahead," she said, pointing to a nearby road sign that was half hidden by an overgrown hedge.

"A crossroads!" Adam exclaimed.

"Yes," Hermione replied excitedly. "We're nearly there!"

Feeling buoyed that they had nearly reached their destination, the three of them hastened towards it. They continued straight ahead at the crossroads and Adam knew that they should soon be able to see either ruins or, hopefully, Malfoy Manor.

"Hermione," Ginny asked as they continued walking. "Why do you always call Adam Harry?"

"That's his name isn't it?" Hermione answered, sounding genuinely baffled.

"No his name's Adam," Ginny retorted. "You called him Adam before you knew he was Harry."

Hermione paused for a second. "I guess it's because he looks like Harry right now."

Adam, deciding that he needed to add his thoughts, but feeling slightly amused that the girls were discussing what his name was, said. "I..er.. I think I've just gotten used to answering to either, but I feel..." he hesitated. "I think I feel more like Adam than Harry."

"I'm sorry..." Hermione replied. " I didn't realise."

"Don't worry, I don't mind being called Harry and if you feel more comfortable calling me Harry then carry on, but," Adam stopped to look around. "Shouldn't we be coming up on the ruins soon? Is that a lane just ahead on the right?" he asked, pointing ahead to a gap in the hedge.

"A lane!" Hermione exclaimed, looking down at the map. "There's no lane on here!" Then she started peering about, taking in their surroundings. "But, it looks like it's at roughly the same place that the ruins are."

The three of them were silent for a second.

"This could be it then," he said softly. "Wands out, and let's keep to the hedges."

The three of them drew their wands and started creeping down the sides of the lane. The hedges on either side of it were well trimmed, forcing them to climb through, so they couldn't be seen if someone came down the lane. After sneaking along for about five hundred metres, they saw something large looming in front of them.

"It's a wall! This is it!" Hermione hissed under her breath. "We did it!"

"Sssh," Ginny whispered. "This was the easy bit."

"If this is a wall, then the entrance must be on the other side of the hedge," Adam whispered, trying to get a look at the entrance gate through the hedge. "I can't see anything."

"We probably shouldn't go in that way anyway," Ginny whispered to him. "Take the broom over the wall?"

Adam nodded at her and they trudged on a short way, so that they were out of earshot of the any guards that might be at the gate.

"What's the plan?" Hermione asked, once they had stopped.

"Ginny'll fly under the cloak and take me onto the top of the wall and then come back for you," Adam answered.

Hermione nodded.

"Ready?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah," Adam said, suddenly feeling the onset of nerves at what they were about to do. This was practically one of the Death Eaters' headquarters and they were trying to break in!

"We can do this," Ginny said, suddenly appearing in front of him. "We'll be fine," she gave a short sharp laugh. "At least its dark now so they wont see us."

"I know," Adam replied, with a smile, putting his arms around Ginny's neck. "I love you."

Ginny drew herself into a hug with him and replied. "I love you, too."

They both stood there for several seconds, completely absorbed in each other.

"Err..." Hermione said, looking uncomfortable. "Are we going?"

"Yes, yes," Adam said hurriedly as he and Ginny broke apart. "Right, Hermione, you'll stay here and Ginny will be back for you."

Adam then proceeded to climb onto the broom and Ginny, using the cloak so they wouldn't be seen, flew him up to the top of the wall. At the top, Adam leapt off the broom and lay flat on the wall, so that he couldn't be seen.

Adam then waited while Ginny flew Hermione over the top of the wall and down to the other side, before returning for him.

Once on the other side of the wall, Adam looked around the grounds. They were massive...huge even, at least as large as a Quidditch pitch.

As he took in his surroundings he realised that he, Ginny and Hermione were standing at the very edge of a what looked like a massive pristine lawn, dotted with expensive looking statues and even a fountain. The lawn, as far as they could see in the darkness, seemed to fill the entirety of the manor grounds apart from what looked like a drive running from the gate to the main entrance of the large house.

The house itself was large ornate building. It was four stories tall and had several towers. The outside of the house was richly decorated with what appeared to be gold adorning the numerous windows and doors, all of which, apart from a few on the ground floor, were currently dark.

"Look a peacock!" Hermione exclaimed under her breath, pointing over the lawn at a large white bird.

"Oh, wow..." Adam whispered in admiration. "I've never seen anything like it."

_How could anyone live in such luxury?_

"We need to get across the lawn and try to find a door," Ginny whispered to him, once she had stowed the broom safely away.

Adam nodded in response and whispered. "Follow me, Ginny, you come last."

The three of them, crouching low to reduce the chance of them being seen, began to creep across the grass. But before Adam had even taken five steps, an ear-splitting wailing sound erupted all around them.

"An alarm!" Hermione shrieked.

"Stay still!" Adam hissed, feeling his heart beginning to pound faster as fear began to course through him. _It couldn't all go wrong! Not this soon._ "They can't know we're here! Can they?"

However, within seconds of the of the alarms sounding, lights began to come on all through the house, the front door was thrown open and people began spilling out into the night.

Once a cloaked figured began striding purposefully out onto the lawn, Adam decided that it was now far too dangerous for them to be out in the open and he ordered, "Run for the wall, and stay together!"

The three of them sprinted across the lawn, trying desperately to get to it so that they could try and make some sort of escape. As soon as they started moving, Adam heard a shout from behind them, and stealing a glance over his shoulder he saw a hail of red bolts of light sailing towards them.

"DOWN!" He shouted and threw himself to the ground.

The spells sailed past him, missing all three of them by some distance.

"GO!" Adam shouted again. "We need to get out of here!"

After a few more seconds of panicked running and dodging of spells, Adam, Ginny and Hermione finally reached the wall.

"I just need to unshrink the broom!" Ginny cried desperately. "Cover me!"

Adam immediately moved to take position in front of her, shielding her with his body, but the spells were coming faster and faster now, so fast, that Adam immediately realised he wouldn't be able to shield Ginny against them. So, he leapt to one side, hoping that if he presented a tempting enough target, then they wouldn't target her.__

"Stupefy!" Adam cried, feeling a surge of relief when he saw that Ginny was still on her feet and fighting. "_Stupefy! Stupefy_!"  
_  
_In response to his Stunners, spells continued to rain towards him, forcing Adam to dive out of the way_, _fire off another spell in return and then dodge another spell.  
_  
There must be at least ten Death Eaters out there!_ Adam thought frantically as spells continue fly towards him, nearly driving him to the ground.

Hermione, too, was firing spells towards the Death Eaters.

"Hermione!" Adam screamed at her, when he had a moment to pay attention to what she was doing. "Don't shield! Dodge! There's too many!"

It was too late.

Hermione's shield failed and a Stunner struck her in the chest, sending her to the ground, unconscious.

"GINNY!" Adam shouted. "Hermione's down! Get her out of here!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Ginny cried, as he jumped, dodged and shielded against spells.

"GET HER OUT OF HERE!" Adam roared. He didn't have time to argue. He wasn't going to let Ginny and Hermione get captured and possibly killed all because of him. "Then come back for me if you can!"

"Cover me!" She shouted, apparently finally getting the message, as she began to run over towards Hermione.

Adam desperately fought off the spells that were coming towards him in a now unending torrent. Nearly a minute had passed since the first spells had been fired and he knew they Death Eaters must be close, but his night vision was hopelessly poor with the beams of light flashing around him.

"I've got her!" Ginny shouted, and Adam saw, out of the corner of his eye, that Ginny was now trying to bundle Hermione onto the back of the broom.

Then, almost in slow motion, Adam saw a Stunner fly past him, barely missing his elbow. He watched in horror and it flew towards Ginny.

"Ginny!" He shouted, but he didn't even have time to warn her and, before she even realised she was in danger, the Stunner struck her, sending Ginny, Hermione and the broom crashing to the ground in a heap.

Adam froze in complete horror at how wrong things had gone. They'd been so confident that they could do this, but they'd failed. They were going to be captured and probably killed, and then Voldemort would win.

He'd failed everyone.

"Drop your wand!" A voice shouted. "NOW!"

Adam hesitated for a second, by the sound of the voices they were only feet away from him now, in fact, if he squinted he could just about make out cloaked figures in the shadows. Lots of cloaked figures.

Then from the shadows a bright light shone into his face, temporarily blinding him and forcing him to close his eyes.

"Look! It's Potter!" A voice shouted excitedly. "We got Potter!" There was a moment's pause and then the voice ordered, "Drop your wand, or your two friends will get it!"

Adam, now giving in fully to despair, let his wand fall from his hand and, a few seconds later, the light went out, allowing Adam's eyes to begin adjusting to the lack of light.

Before he'd managed to get his bearings, he felt someone roughly grab his arm and he allowed himself to be led towards the distant lights of the house.

As Adam was marched along, the Death Eaters were only too keen to point out that they were firmly in charge and Adam felt the tips of multiple wands poking into his body in different places.

The lights of the house were now growing larger and, as Adam realised he would soon be hustled into the house, he looked around to try and see what the Death Eaters had done with Hermione and Ginny.

"Face front!" someone spat and painfully jabbed the side of Adam's face with their wand.

"Screw you!" Adam spat back. "Where are they?"

All he received in answer was a punch to the face, which sent him sprawling to the ground.

"Get up, Potter!" He was spat at again and roughly pulled to his feet.

Adam was pushed roughly along for the rest of the slog back to the house.

Once inside, Adam was led through a kitchen and then pushed into another room. Just as he stepped over the threshold, someone shoved him violently in the back and sent him sprawling onto the floor. Adam didn't bother getting back to his feet, knowing that he would probably end up being pushed to the floor again if he did.

_It seems,_ Adam thought bitterly, _that Voldemort still wants me alive, but he doesn't mind the Death Eaters roughing me up a bit first._

As he lay there, Adam looked around the room that he was in. It was a richly decorated in purple with crystal chandeliers, overstuffed chairs, a large ornate wooden sideboard and a marble fireplace.

It was probably posher than any room Adam had been in his entire life.

The rest of the Death Eaters had by now all filed into the room, and Adam counted a total of ten of them. With them they brought Ginny's and Hermione's unconscious bodies. Then, to Adam's absolute fury, they threw both of the girls down on the floor as if there were mere _things_. At the sight of his girlfriend and friend being treated so degradingly, Adam leapt to his feet, only to come face to face with a host of wands.

"Stand up and stay right where you are," one of the Death Eaters snapped. "She'll be here soon."

Once he was on his feet, Adam was held once more at wand-point for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, there was movement and the large rug in the centre of the room moved. The rug was pulled aside and then, as if rising from a hole underneath the rug, Bellatrix Lestrange stepped into the room.

The woman's eyes quickly took in the scene in front of her and, when her eyes rested upon Adam, a twisted little smile formed on her face. Then suddenly her expression changed to one of fury.

"Who is responsible for this?" She snarled.

One of the Death Eaters stepped forward. "I am ma'am! I caught him, I have his wand."

Lestrange stared at the man for a second, before pulling out her wand and screaming. "_Crucio!_"

The man dropped to the floor with an inhuman howl of pain. He continued screaming until, nearly a minute later, Lestrange lifted the curse and crossed the room towards him.

"You _should_ be credited for capturing Potter, but you deserve to be punished for bringing in him in here!" Lestrange snapped at the still-writhing form before her.

Adam's mind began whirring as he listened to Lestrange ranting. _There was something in here they didn't want him to know about!_ But, before he'd had chance to process what he'd heard, Lestrange was in his face. She reached out and began running her hand over his face, making him shudder in disgust.

"Well, Potter," she said sweetly. "We meet again!"

Adam didn't reply and concentrated on blocking out the vile woman.

"You don't need to speak, Potter. I just hope the Dark Lord lets me watch when he has his fun," she sighed exaggeratedly. "I had thought of asking if I could have my own fun with you after he'd finished, I've always wanted a younger man, but I expect you'll be rather dead once he's done."

Adam tried desperately not to react, but what Lestrange was suggesting made him feel physically sick.

Then, obviously deciding that she'd tormented him enough for now, Lestrange walked over towards Hermione and Ginny.

"Oh!" she exclaimed in phoney surprise, kneeling down next to the two girls. "You caught his friends, too. Maybe if the Dark Lord won't let me have Potter, he'll let me have fun with his girlfriend!"

"No!" Adam spat. "Leave her alone!"

"But you see, Potter!" Lestrange said, jumping back to her feet and crossing the room towards him. "You can't do anything to stop me!"

Adam took a step forward in anger, only to feel Lestrange's wand pointing at his forehead.

"The Dark Lord wants you alive, but that doesn't mean I can't hurt you... a lot," Lestrange replied dangerously. "Now," she said, signalling to two of the Death Eaters to take up positions either side of Adam. "I'll call the Dark Lord," Lestrange announced. "Macnair, toss Potter and the other girl into the cellar. Avery, take the Weasley girl into the kitchen and tie her up," A smile appeared on Lestrange's lips and she looked Adam right in the eye. "I'll need to amuse myself until the Dark Lord gets here."

"NO!" Adam screamed, now terrified as to what Lestrange was going to do to Ginny. "Have your fun with me!" He pleaded. "Leave her alone!"

Lestrange only laughed in response, as Adam struggled against his captors. The more he struggled, the angrier they became, at last resorting to magically binding him with a series of ropes, pinning his legs together and his arms to his sides. Once bound, he was carried towards a door, down a narrow flight of steps and into a dark room where he was shoved roughly inside. Hermione's body was tossed into the room after him and then the door was slammed shut.

When he was certain the Death Eaters were gone, Adam found himself filled with a new determination. _I have to get out of here and save Ginny! _

He struggled on the floor, trying desperately to free himself from the ropes, but it was no use and, even after several minutes of struggling, the ropes still hadn't loosened at all.

"Hello..?" An uncertain voice spoke softly from the dark.

"Who's that?" Adam asked hopefully. "Can you get me out of these ropes?"

"Who are you?" The voice asked again.

"It's Harry...Harry Potter," he replied.

"Oh, Harry!" The voice exclaimed, and he could now hear scrabbling from the other side of the room. "It's Luna!"

"Luna!" Adam exclaimed. "What... How are you here?"

"Oh, Harry," Luna said sadly, her voice sounding if she was getting closer to him. "I hoped you wouldn't get caught...Did Ginny get away?"

"No," Adam said. "She's still upstairs. That's why I need you to get me out of these ropes!"

"We have a nail that we use when we want to break stuff," Luna commented.

Adam heard more scrabbling noises, then felt someone else's hands on his wrists.

"That's it!" Adam exclaimed. "Free my arms, then I can help free my feet!"

Luna's face appeared just in front of Adam's and she said. "These ropes are quite thick. I'll need a few minutes."

As Adam was about to reply, his scar burned worse than it ever had before, and for a few seconds he was looking down on a completely different scene.  
_  
He was standing in front of another man. This man was old, thin, but laughing scornfully._

"Kill me, then, Voldemort, I welcome death! But my death will not bring you what you seek. There is so much you do not understand…" The man spoke.

Then suddenly he felt something... a call... he had to conclude his business and return to Britain. Either his followers had captured Potter or... they would suffer.

A scream that echoed through the house shocked Adam out of his vision.

It was Ginny! Ginny was being tortured.

Adam fought with renewed desperation to free himself from the ropes. He had to save Ginny!

"Harry!" Luna exclaimed. "I'm not done!"

Adam didn't listen and, in a burst of surprising strength, he suddenly felt the ropes around his wrists give way. Once the ropes were gone, Adam sat up and quickly turned his attention to the ropes around his feet, quickly freeing them, too.

Now that he was free, Adam leapt to his feet and charged towards the door. It was locked and, at the sound of another despairing scream from Ginny, Adam pounded his fists on the door.

"STOP IT!" Adam bellowed. "GINNY!"

Adam's shouts seemed to have no effect, and Ginny continued to scream. Adam wasn't even sure if Lestrange was actually interrogating her, or if she was just engaged in one of her sick games.

"Harry!" Luna shouted, from where she was kneeling next to Hermione. "It's no use... the door, we've all tried already. It's too thick to batter down and," Adam hesitated as Luna concluded, "I'm not even sure if they can hear us upstairs."

Adam stopped pounding on the door and began trying to get himself back under control. _Luna is right,_ he thought._ It's no good wasting all my energy pounding uselessly on a door. I need to think of some other way to help Ginny._

"We?" Adam asked, suddenly realising that Luna had used we several time to talk about the people in the basement. "Who else is here?"

"Just Mr. Ollivander and I," Luna said.

"Mr. Ollivander!" Adam exclaimed.

"He... he's not been well," Luna said lowering her voice. "He sleeps lots. We need to get him out of here."

Another heart-rending scream echoed from upstairs, causing Adam to close his eyes. "So," Adam began bluntly. "Are there any other ways out of here?"

"No," Luna replied.

"Okay," Adam said, trying to rack his brain for any other ideas. "Okay. Well... what about when they bring you food?"

"They don't," Luna replied. "A house-elf brings it. When you came was the first time they opened the door since I arrived... Oh!" Luna exclaimed, suddenly breaking off her explanation. "Hermione's coming around!"

Adam immediately rushed to Hermione's side.

"Hermione!" Adam said earnestly. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Hermione moaned dazedly. "What...?"

"Hermione," Luna continued. "It's Luna, can you hear me?"

"L..." Hermione said, now blinking furiously. "Luna..? Why can't I see?"

Adam heaved a sigh of relief as Hermione became lucid. "It's dark, Hermione," he told her.

"H-Harry..?" She asked. "What happened?"

"They captured us," Adam began softly, only to be interrupted by another harrowing cry from upstairs.

At Ginny's cry of pain, Hermione bolted upright. Looking Adam directly in the eye, she gasped, "Is that Ginny?"

Adam nodded numbly in response.

"Oh... Adam!" Hermione gasped, and leapt forward and hugged him.

"Adam!" Luna exclaimed and Adam felt himself involuntarily groan.

He turned to Luna and saw that she was staring at him with her mouth half open.

"You're Adam ... not Harry," she said at length. "Then... no! You're Adam and Harry."

Adam only shrugged in response. "Yeah...that's about right."

"I see it now!" Luna continued. "Your face...but, how?"

"Alright, alright," Adam answered impatiently. "I'm not going to get into the whole story now," he winced as Ginny screamed yet again. "What's important is that we need to think of some way to get out of here. Does anyone have any ideas?"

No one answered and the small group fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Seeing no other options, Adam began scouring the room from top to bottom looking for something...anything that he could use to save Ginny from her pain. He found nothing. It was unbearable to know that there was simply nothing he could do save Ginny.

Finally giving up, Adam sank to the floor and waited. After what felt like an eternity, but in reality couldn't have been more than ten minutes, there was a pop, and Adam realised that a house-elf must have entered the dark room.

Suddenly light blossomed in the room, and Adam found himself staring right into the eyes of a house-elf... a very familiar house elf. It was Dobby!

Seeing him, Dobby seemed to sag. He let the tray he was carrying fall to the floor and he wailed a cry of despair.

"Harry Potter, no!" the elf cried. "They've caught Harry Potter!"

"Dobby!" Adam exclaimed, quickly cross the room towards the elf. "You have to help me!"

"Dobby can't!" He wailed, sounding almost as if he was about to burst into tears. "He can't disobey his masters."

"You..." Adam began, suddenly realising that this was where Dobby lived. "You're the Malfoy's house-elf?"

Dobby nodded, and burst into tears, moaning. "Dobby cannot save Harry Potter..."

"Dobby..." Adam began, deciding to take a gentler tack. "You remember Ginny? They're torturing her, I need to save her."

Dobby gasped in response. "They're torturing Harry Potter's Wheezy?"

"Yes," Adam said anxiously. "I need you to help me get out of here, or perhaps get me my wand?"

Dobby wailed again. "Harry Potter must understand," he pleaded. "Dobby can't. Dobby can't! Dobby is bound..."

"Dobby!" Adam begged the elf. "Please!"

Dobby looked at Adam mournfully, before disappearing with another pop.

"DAMN IT!" Adam screamed, and barely restrained himself from punching the metal door.

"Harry..." Hermione questioned. "What was that all about?"

"Dobby helped me out last year. I... I hoped he might be able to help us out of here." Adam felt his shoulders slump. "But I guess he can't..."

"Harry," Hermione said, standing up and approaching him. "House-elves are bound to their masters... they can't disobey them. If Dobby has been ordered to not assist us in any way..."

Hermione was interrupted by another pop, and a soft thump. Adam immediately spun around, searching for the source of the sound.

He heard a sharp high pitched cry of pain coming from somewhere in the room and Adam charged towards the source of the sound.

The source of the sound was Dobby. He was lying on the floor.

"Dobby!" Adam exclaimed. "What's wrong."

Dobby gasped and said in an incredibly weak voice. "Dobby brought your things..." he said weakly. "... for Harry Potter."

"Thank you!" Adam cried with joy. "Thank you, but what's wrong?"

"Dobby disobeyed..." he gasped, his eyes sliding closed. "A house-elf must pay the ultimate price for disobeying their Master... "

"No! Dobby!" Adam cried. "If I'd known I would never have asked. You can't die... you can't!"

At Adam's cry, Dobby's eyes flew open and he smiled. "Anything for... Harry...Potter..." he gasped.

"Dobby!" Adam cried, putting his hand on Dobby's body. "Oh, Dobby."

"It's…" Hermione stammered, sounding completely appalled. "It's monstrous! He's dying just because he disobeyed his master!"

Then the air seemed to leave the elf's body in a final rush and Dobby was still.

Adam knelt there next Dobby's body for several minutes, before he felt someone put their hand on his shoulder.

"Harry..." Hermione's said gently, having seemingly composed herself. "It's _horrible _how house-elves are treated, that he should die just for helping us."

Adam nodded numbly and sighing deeply, he stood up and spoke determinedly to the others in the room. "Dobby died to help us to escape and free Ginny and that's what we're going to do."

Fumbling around at his feet, he soon found the items that Dobby had dropped on the floor. There was the Invisibility Cloak and his, Ginny's and Hermione's wands.

"Luna," Adam said, passing her Ginny's wand. "You can use Ginny's wand until we rescue her, but then she'll need it. Do you know what happened to yours?"

Luna shook her head and replied. "They took it from me at school."

"Okay," Adam continued. "Let's get Mr. Ollivander on his feet, and then we can get out of here."

Adam, feeling immensely better now that he had his wand in his hand, crossed to the door and whispered. "_Alohomora_." Much to his surprise, the door clicked open.

"Wow," Adam said to no one in particular. "Didn't think it would just open."

He looked out of the doorway up the dark passage and heaved a sigh of relief. It was empty. It seemed that the Death Eaters were relying on the locked door and the lack of wands to keep them imprisoned.

He looked back into the room and saw the Hermione and Luna were busy helping Ollivander to his feet, where he stood shakily.

"Can we," Adam began, numbly. "We need to take Dobby with us."

"I can take him," Hermione said, and Adam watched as she wrapped Dobby in one of the rags that Luna had been using as a bed and placed him in the pocket of her cardigan.

"How?" Adam exclaimed.

"Undetectable-Extension charm," Hermione replied. "It's not very dignified but..."

"It's a brilliant idea," Adam replied softly.

"Okay," Adam said, after checking that Ollivander, Hermione and Luna were all ready to go. "I'll go first under the cloak, then Hermione right after me, followed by Luna with Mr. Ollivander. Okay?"

The two girls and Mr. Ollivander nodded in response.

"We need to free Ginny first," Adam began. "Then," he hesitated. "There's something I need to look for, but then we're getting out of here. Once out of the house, we'll try to get out of the grounds and then Hermione and I will Apparate us away."

"Oh, I can Apparate myself!" Luna exclaimed. "Daddy taught me."

"Brilliant!" Adam began. "Well, if you can stick close to Mr. Ollivander then... So," he paused. "Are we ready?"

When the two nodded in response, Adam threw the cloak over himself and advanced down the corridor and up a narrow flight of stairs.

Once he reached the top of the stairs, Adam paused at the door which led back into the large room they had been in earlier. He turned around and saw the Hermione was right behind him.

"Come in once I fire the first spell and Stun anything that moves."

Then, once he was satisfied that Hermione understood, Adam paused, and then flung open the door.

He strode into the large drawing room with his wand in his hand. There were three Death Eaters in the room, who were rising from their seats in confusion.

"_Stupefy!_" Adam cried, stunning the first one.

Then spells began to fly towards him, and Adam was forced to dive out of the way.

"_Stupefy!_" he cried again, missing his target this time.

"_Stupefy!_" A female voice cried out, and Adam saw Hermione standing in the doorway. Her spell flew through the air and struck one of the Death Eaters in the stomach, sending him crashing to the floor.

The remaining Death Eater, now realising he was outnumbered began to run for the door.

"_Stupefy!_" Adam cried out, striking him in the back with another Stunning Spell.

Adam heaved a sigh of relief and turned to Hermione. "Good job," he said, then, turning back towards the door to the cellar, he saw Luna and Ollivander emerge into the room.

"Are we clear?" Luna asked, but, just as she spoke Adam heard a noise from behind him.

He spun around, and came face to face with another Death Eater who had apparently come from the kitchen. He reacted without thinking and he dived to one side, narrowly avoiding a spell and landing on the floor with a thud.

As Adam righted himself, the two girls started firing spells at the Death Eater, and, before Adam was even back up on his feet, the man had been knocked out cold.

"Thanks, guys," Adam replied. "That was close. Is everyone okay?"

Both girls nodded.

"How's Mr. Ollivander holding up?"

"I'm okay," Ollivander replied weakly and Adam realised with surprise that it was first time he'd heard him speak. "If I could just rest for a moment..."

"You can. Stay here with Luna," Adam replied. "Hermione come with me and we'll get Ginny."

The two of them moved cautiously into the kitchen and Adam felt his heart constrict as he imaged the horrors that could have been inflicted on Ginny.

They entered the kitchen, and Adam stared in surprise. It was empty. The only evidence of what had happened was a smashed chair on the floor with frayed, torn ropes lying loosely around it.

As he took in the scene, Adam couldn't help but grin. Apparently, Ginny had already escaped.

"She's escaped!" Hermione whispered to him.

Adam nodded. "Yeah," he said softly. "She's brilliant," he then paused, considering his next move. He needed to find the Horcrux, then escape. If Ginny had managed to free herself, then he wasn't sure what he could do to help her right now. "Okay," Adam instructed Hermione, pointing towards the door from the kitchen into the grounds. "Keep an eye out; make sure no one comes in. I'll be back."

With that, Adam charged back into the drawing room.

"Luna, Mr. Ollivander," he said. "We're going, head towards the kitchen. I'll be right behind you."

Once Luna and Ollivander were moving, Adam, retracing Lestrange's steps from earlier, opened up the hidden hole in the floor and descended a steep and narrow set of steps.

At the bottom, he came face to face with yet another metal door.

"_Alohomora._"

Nothing happened.

So, deciding to take a brute force approach, Adam took a few steps backward up the steps. Once positioned, he pointed his wand at the door and, allowing all his hatred for Voldemort to fill his mind, he cried. "_Explulso!_"

The spell left his wand and struck the centre of the door. The force of the spell caused the metal door to buckle and twist, even though the protections on it prevented it from actually exploding.

Despite the fact that his spell hadn't done what he intended, it had still left enough room for him to see into the room beyond.

_It's here!_ Adam thought with joy. A single, and remarkably small, golden cup.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_" Adam cried, reciting the first year spell and levitating the cup towards him until he was able to clasp it through the door.

As soon as he fingers closed on it, Adam felt the familiar shudder he normally felt when touching the locket, but he put it out of his mind.

_I have the Horcrux!_ He thought with triumph. _Now all I need to do is find Ginny and get out of here._

Adam then shoved the Horcrux into his pocket and dashed up the stairs, through the drawing room and into the kitchen.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw Hermione put her fingers against her lips. She, Luna and Mr Ollivander were standing near the doorway looking out into the grounds.

"It seems too quiet," Hermione said softly. "But I can see cloaked figures moving around out there, but they seem to be just patrolling."

"Any sign of Ginny?" Adam asked, trying to keep his voice down. They were so close now it wouldn't do for him to give himself away to the Death Eaters in the grounds.

"No," Hermione said.

Adam hesitated, completely at a loss of what to do. He tried to put himself in Ginny's shoes. She'd just escaped and she probably didn't have any idea where he was. What would she have done?

_She'd have run for it. _Adam realised. She'd been Stunned before he was captured, and hadn't been revived until she'd been taken away by Bellatrix Lestrange. She probably thought he'd managed to get away.

_But what if she stayed to look for him?_ Adam thought, doubt now creeping in his mind.

However, before he could actually make up his mind the decision was made for him. A crazed scream came from the drawing room. A scream that sounded just like Lestrange.

"Run!" Adam shouted. "Just run!"

They pelted out into the grounds of Malfoy Manor. The four of them, Adam, Hermione, Luna and Ollivander, moved as quickly as they could across the lawn. As they ran, Ollivander began to struggle for breath, but Adam kept moving, guided them roughly in the direction of the gates he had seen earlier. Without a broom the gates would be their best chance of escape.

As soon as they were out of the house, the Death Eaters were on to them and the escapees cut down, one, then two and then three of the Death Eaters with Stunners.

"Keep running," Adam gasped, pausing for a second to take in his surroundings, but, as he stopped, he felt the cold, bone chilling cold that he had felt far too many times in his life for his own good.

"Dementors!" He screamed, now turning towards the gate. "RUN!"

They Stunned another Death Eater on their way to the gate and, then knocked out the two Death Eaters who seemed to be guarding it.

"Dementors are coming," Adam shouted, frantically. "Hermione, get those gates open, now!"

Adam stood and watched as the cloaked figures almost casually drew closer to them across the grounds and, as Adam watched, he felt his hopes of escape being crushed.

_There's hundreds of them!_ He despaired.

"I can't get the gates open!" Hermione screamed frantically. "I can't get them open!"

"Revive a Death Eater," Adam snapped back at her. "Threaten him, get him to open them!"

"But I..." Hermione wailed. "I don't know if I can!"

"JUST DO IT!" Adam snapped at her. The Dementors were getting closer and closer now. "I'll hold off the Dementors."

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Adam cried.

Nothing happened.

_Okay,_ Adam thought, trying to calm his racing heart. _Calm down, you can do this!_

He conjured up images of himself and Ginny together over the years and he let himself bask in the love that he felt for her.  
_  
"Expecto Patronum!" _he cried again._  
_  
This time Prongs leapt forward from his wand and charged towards the Dementors but then, with a surge of joy, he saw another silvery figure in amongst them.

It was another Patronus, but Adam couldn't recognise what it was. _It's Ginny!_ He thought with excitement. There wasn't anyone else nearby that could conjure a Patronus.

As Adam watched the Patronuses battle with the Dementors, he saw the person who had conjured the Patronus and heaved a sigh of relief. It _was_ Ginny! Then his temporary joy at seeing his girlfriend vanished when he saw the peril she was in.

Ginny was on the far side of the Dementors. To escape she would have to get through them. She was in trouble.

Suddenly their eyes met, and the two of them stared at each other for a split second. Realising that Ginny's only way of escape now was through the Dementors, Adam waved frantically to her, if she could run through them, then he could protect her with his Patronus.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Adam shouted again, once again summoning Prongs.

Ginny started running through the Dementors and Adam could just make out the two silvery shapes of their Patronuses flanking her. Then suddenly, Prongs vanished and Adam watched with horror as Ginny's Patronus also flickered and failed.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" He screamed but nothing happened.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" He screamed again, his voice become horse and despair completely overtaking him. Once again Prongs did not come to his aid.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" This time two female voices from his side called out the spells and Adam sobbed in relief as he saw two Patronuses, in the form of Hermione's otter and Luna's hare, rush forward into the swarm of Dementors that were now closing on Ginny.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Adam tried again, but once again he failed to cast the spell and save Ginny.

Knowing he now had little choice Adam began to run forward, desperate to do something, anything for Ginny, but, before he had even gotten five places forward an wall of indescribable horror and terror stopped him in his tracks, forcing him to his knees.

Adam watched as Hermione's and Luna's Patronuses also flickered out, and, using every once of his willpower, Adam forced himself to his feet.

Then he saw Ginny fall to ground.

Adam continued to move towards her, forcing his body, which wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and escape from the world around it, to move step by step as if he was walking into a wind so powerful it could knock him off his feet.

He continued walking, step by gruelling step, as a Dementor floated down towards Ginny, but he was too far away. He wasn't going to get there in time. He watched helplessly, still forcing his body to keep moving as the Dementor lowered its mouth towards Ginny's face.

The Dementor picked her up, and held her in the air but even then Ginny was still kicking and struggling valiantly against the creature.

Then, with Adam completely and utterly unable to save her, he saw a tiny ball of green light leave Ginny's mouth, and float into the Dementors gaping maw.

Her body went limp and Adam screamed an almost inhuman cry of pain and despair.

As he watched the Dementor cast Ginny's body to the ground, Adam gave in fully to the pain and despair caused by the assembled Dementors and he collapsed to the floor.

The next thing he knew, someone was pulling him to his feet and shouting at him.

"Adam, we need to go!" Hermione screamed, as she began dragging him away from the Dementors. "Luna's holding a Death Eater at wand point so he'll keep the gate open, but we need to move!"

"NO!" Adam shouted, pulling away from Hermione. "I have to help Ginny!"

"Adam..." Hermione pleaded, and for the first time he noticed her face was streaked with blood, dirt and tears. "You saw... it Kissed her... she's gone."

Adam couldn't believe that. He now wasn't sure what he'd seem. Ginny couldn't be dead. She just couldn't be.

"NO!" He screamed, pushing Hermione away. "I HAVE TO SAVE HER. I CAN'T LEAVE HER!"

He set off across the garden back towards Ginny, knowing that if he could just get to her he would be able to do something.

"HARRY!" Hermione screamed. "STOP! PLEASE! You'll only get yourself killed, too!"

Adam ignored her. He had to get to Ginny.

The next thing he knew, something hit him from behind and darkness claimed him.


	16. Chapter 15

**Ginny  
February 23rd 1998**

When Ginny awoke everything had changed. The last thing she remembered, she had been outside fighting off Death Eaters... Hermione had been Stunned, she had been trying to get her away from the manor and then ... nothing. Now, Ginny found herself sitting in a kitchen. _Have I been captured?_ _Where's Adam? Where's Hermione?_

_What in Merlin's name happened?_ Ginny wondered. Then, she felt a surge of panic. _I can't move!_

Ginny tried furiously to move her arms and legs, but to no avail: she was tied to whatever it was she was sitting on.

"Oh!" a voice cried in delight. "She's awake!"

Ginny froze, a feeling of dread washing over her. That voice... it was Bellatrix Lestrange.

Ginny looked around the room and saw Lestrange perched on one of the large ornate sideboards on the far side of the kitchen twirling a wand in her hand.

"So..." she paused, hopping off the sideboard and crossing the room towards her. "Ginevra. I hope you are you enjoying yourself. I know I am... or rather, I soon will be."

Lestrange approached her almost casually, and ran her hand over Ginny's face, causing her to shudder.

"So," Lestrange began sweetly. "Ginny, would you tell me why you came here today?"

Ginny shook her head and snapped, "What have you done with Adam and Hermione?"

Lestrange chuckled in response. "Potter is quite safe; he is being saved for the Dark Lord... in fact," she paused, as if silently mocking Ginny's current situation. "I think it's about time I called him."

Ginny watched, involuntarily gasping as Lestrange pulled back her sleeve and pressed her finger to the Dark Mark that was seared upon her arm.

"Now," Lestrange said, the tone of her voice changing and becoming far more dangerous. "Why did you come here today?"

"I'm not telling you anything until I can see Adam!" Ginny responded, trying desperately to keep her voice even as she stalled, attempting to buy some time for some method of escape to present itself.

"Stop wasting my time!" Lestrange snapped. "_Crucio!_"

Ginny screamed as pain overtook her body, her restrained limbs thrashed vainly against the ropes that bound her, but then, a few seconds later, the pain receded.

Ginny blinked her eyes and looked dazedly around the room, she was vaguely aware of Lestrange laughing at her, but everything still seemed fuzzy.

Adam had confided in her about his time in captivity and she knew from him that the Cruciatus Curse was terrible, but what she had just felt as far worse than she could ever have imaged. _Oh, Adam_. Ginny despaired. _How did you survive weeks of this?_

"I'll ask you again," Lestrange continued. "Why did you come here? What are you after?"

"Screw you!" Ginny spat venomously.

In response Lestrange cast her spell again, only this time the pain was worse than before. It felt as if every nerve in Ginny's body was burning.

"I'm..." Ginny gasped, as she slumped forward in the chair once Lestrange released her from the spell. "I'm not telling you anything!"

"Oh, well," Lestrange said casually, as she raised her wand.

"NOOOOOO!" Ginny shouted, but her shout turned into a scream, as pain once again engulfed her and she writhed and screamed on the chair.

When Ginny became aware of her surrounds again, she noticed that there was now a second Death Eater in the room. Letting her head hang limply in the hope that Lestrange wouldn't realise she was conscious, Ginny peeked out from under strands of her hair that had fallen over her face.

"No sign of how they got in..." the Death Eater said to Lestrange. "The gates are secure and I have posted two guards there."

"No sign!" Lestrange shrieked. "There could be more of them for all we know! Did you search the entire grounds?"

"N-N-No.." The Death Eater stammered. "We don't have enough men, I..."

"You fool!" Lestrange snarled. "The Dark Lord himself is on his way here and our defences are lax! Do you think he will be as forgiving as I am when he asks these questions and you have no answers?" She paused and paced back and forward several times. "I will sort this out myself," then she paused. "Oh, she's awake!"

Lestrange crossed the room towards Ginny. "Changed your mind yet?" she asked bluntly and, when Ginny didn't respond, she stepped back and tutted. "A shame."

Then Ginny was blasted once again by the Cruciatus Curse. This time, however, it was far worse than any of the previous times and she screamed and writhed in the chair. As the curse continued Ginny felt her awareness of the outside world beginning to recede. She felt a strange impact with the side of her head and then everything went black.

When Ginny regained consciousness her head was thumping.

"Oohh," She moaned half heartedly. Her entire body hurt, it was like a tremendous biting ache was gnawing at every muscle in her body.

"Shut it," A gruff voice spoke.

At the sound of a voice other than Lestrange's, Ginny opened her eyes slowly and suddenly realised that she was no longer sitting on the chair. Instead, she was now lying on the floor, still tied to the chair.

_I must have toppled over! _

Slowly and carefully so not to attract attention, Ginny tried to move her arms and legs and she found, much to her joy, that her arms could now move independently of the arms of the chair to which they had been tied.  
_  
The chair must have broken in the fall!_ Ginny realised excitedly. _I can use this to escape. I just need to wait for the Death Eater to be distracted._

Ginny waited patiently, and the Death Eater seemed completely happy to ignore the fact that she was lying on the floor. A few minutes later, Ginny had her chance. There was a crash and the sound of spell-fire from further inside the house and Ginny watched as the Death Eater leapt into action and charged towards the sound.

Once Ginny saw him disappear through the door, she acted, pumping her muscles in a desperate attempt to free herself from the chair. A few seconds later she had freed both of her hands, although he right hand was still bound to the shattered lump of wood that had once been the arm of the chair. Next, with a solid kick, Ginny was able to break the bar that joined the legs of the chair.

_Yes!_ Ginny thought triumphantly. Her feet were now free, but still tied together and still tied to a wooden bar.

Taking stock of her situation, Ginny realised that she now probably didn't have long before being discovered, but there was also no way she could escape with her feet tied together and various bits of chair still tied to her limbs. So, looking around for somewhere to hide, Ginny half crawled across the floor to the far side of the kitchen and the large sideboard that stood there.

Once she reached the large oaken piece of furniture, Ginny pulled open one of the doors and slid herself inside, smashing a load of crockery in the process, so she was lying flat on the bottom shelf. Once she was inside, she pulled the door closed and immediately set to work on freeing her feet and hands.

However, less than a minute after she entered the cupboard, Ginny heard a noise. She heard several sets of footsteps walk across the wooden floor of the kitchen and then a conversation that was just a little too quiet for her to make out the voices. Then, she heard more footsteps and Ginny held her breath in anticipation, as she desperately tried to figure out what was happening in the kitchen.

As she waited, she heard someone pacing around the kitchen. Whoever it was even came close enough for Ginny to hear them tapping their fingers on the top of the sideboard.

Then what felt like an age later, she heard several other sets of the footsteps enter the kitchen and some more hushed conversations. Ginny waited apprehensively in the sideboard, expecting to be discovered at any second.

_Surely they can't be this stupid? _Ginny thought. _Did they think she'd run for it. Why didn't they check the sideboard?_

As Ginny waited, she continued to listen, trying to make out the conversation. The most she could tell was that one of them was male, and two of them were female. After a few more minutes of anxious waiting, sounds broke out in the room again. Someone practically ran through the kitchen and once more conversation broke out.

Then someone screamed.

"Run! Just run!" A voice shouted, and Ginny felt her breath hitch in her throat. It was Adam... Adam had been in the room all along.

"Into the garden!" Ginny now heard Bellatrix Lestrange shrieking. "If they get away our lives are forfeit!"

Further feet pounded through the kitchen, and Ginny heard the sound of a door slamming. Then, there was silence.

She waited, counting the seconds under her breath. Once three minutes had passed and there had been no further sound, she again set to work freeing her arms and legs. Once she was completely free, Ginny slipped out of the sideboard into the now empty kitchen.

Getting to her feet, and stretching out the kinks in her muscles, Ginny crept cautiously towards the door and peered out into the garden. All she could make out through the dark was a number of cloaked figures that seemed to be moving away from the house towards the main gates.

Treading cautiously, so not to make any undue noise, Ginny set off across the garden, knowing that she was extremely vulnerably without a wand. The wand problem, however, was soon solved as she came across several Stunned Death Eaters and promptly liberated one of their wands.

Now that she was armed, Ginny continued across the garden at a quicker pace but, when she saw flashes coming from the group of cloaked figures that were barely visible in the dark, she broke into a sprint. Adam was fighting! He would need her help!

Ginny tore across the garden, focused solely on getting to Adam, but just as she was getting close she slammed into what _felt_ like a solid wall of cold so intense it nearly knocked her off her feet.

_No..._ Ginny thought weakly, coming to immediate stop and struggling to force herself forward. _Not Dementors!_

Ginny hated Dementors... but she had to continue. She had to get out of here, she had to get to Adam.

Using all of her willpower Ginny continued forward, gripping her borrowed wand tightly in her right hand. The Dementors were drifting away from her at speed, as if they were chasing something.

Then, as she began to close on the Dementors she saw a flash of silver. A Patronus, Prongs! Adam was there, he was fighting off the Dementors!

Acting immediately, Ginny conjured up images of herself and Adam together over the years and she let herself savour in the love that she felt for him.

"_Expecto Patronum_!" Ginny cried and her Patronus surged out of the end of her wand.

As the Patronus charged towards the Dementors Ginny just stared in open mouthed amazement. Her Patronus had changed. Gone was her horse and in its place there was a ... it was a doe.

"My Patronus...just like Adam's," Ginny mumbled to herself, as she watched the doe battle off the Dementors. Hers did look almost exactly like a female version of Adam's. _It's almost as if they're mates,_ Ginny thought, suddenly blushing. _Well... that is about right, but why did mine have to change? Couldn't his change into a horse?_

The two battling deer forced a gap into the crowd of Dementors and Ginny saw him. Adam was standing on the far side of the swarm of Dementors and, despite the distance between them, their eyes met.

Adam waved frantically at her, signalling her to try get to him. Ginny paused for a second, not particularly keen on racing through the Dementors unless she had to, but then she saw the reason Adam was signalling her, behind him, just barely visible in the dark, were the gates.

Her way out was through the Dementors!

Steeling herself, Ginny set off at a run, charging directly towards Adam and summoning her new Patronus in the process. As she ran, she saw Prongs and her own Patronus ahead of her clearing a path.

Once she entered the swarm of Dementors, the Patronuses were immediately at her side, acting as her silvery escorts from the evil of the Dementors.

Then suddenly, without warning, Prongs flickered and disappeared and Ginny felt the biting cold despair of the Dementors seep into her very being, slowing her down and making her sluggish. Then, just as she thought things couldn't get any worse her Patronus vanished.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Ginny screamed, as each step forward became a battle as if she was fighting against a storm of horror.

Nothing happened.

Ginny slowed even further. "_EXPECTO PATRONUM!_" She screamed, vainly trying to conjure an image of Adam.

Once again nothing happened, but still Ginny tried to continue forward.

_Why had Adam abandoned her? Why hadn't he come to save her?_

With a wimper, Ginny felt herself fall to the ground, but she didn't care anymore. Her strength faded. Adam had obviously abandoned her. He didn't care anymore.

Then, suddenly Ginny felt a hand on her shoulder.

_Adam! _She realised with joy and moved her position so that she could see him. However, what she saw only made her scream; a hooded figure, its face growing ever closer to her. It raised a second hand, this one went around her other shoulder and began to pick her up.

As her feet left the ground Ginny realised the deadly peril she was in and she suddenly felt her entire body fill with energy. She had to get away! She had to get out of here!

Ginny kicked, screamed and tried to punch with her arms, but the Dementor's grip was excruciatingly tight and it didn't even seem to feel any pain as her legs kicked against it.

Then its face was against her and she heard a terrifying sucking sound.

_No no no no!_ Ginny panicked. It was going to take her soul!_ No no no no no! Adam, Mum, Dad, save me! Someone save me! I don't want to die!_

Someone... please... anyone...

Then, her thoughts were interrupted by pain. Pain unlike anything she had encountered before, it was even worse than the Cruciatus Curse. It felt as if someone had placed a pair of hooks inside her body and was slowly dragging her insides towards her mouth.

_Help... me..._

Ginny felt herself fading as the two hooks, one now slightly in front of the other neared her head and, as the first one seemed to leave her body, she realised that this was it. She was going to die.

Her eyes flew open and she saw a ball of green light floating into the Dementor's mouth causing the Dementor to emit a harrowing scream. _Adam!_ She screamed silently trying to conjure an image of him, in one final plea for survival. Then, the second ball reached her mouth, and Ginny knew she would die.

Ginny had expected everything to go black, and for her to cease to exist. That didn't happen, but everything had changed.

Ginny felt light, it was as if she was floating. Everything felt distant, but yet close at the same time. She couldn't see anything, but that didn't seem to matter because she could _sense _things near her.

She could feel, large collections_ pain and suffering_ floating around near her. One in particular, seemed to be floating away from her rapidly, this one felt familiar as if some part of it had been a presence in her life for years.

She could also feel other more singular entities, also floating near her, and they seemed to have more variety as to how they felt. There were some that felt like sadness and grief, and some that felt... dark and evil.

All of these feelings washed over Ginny as she floated there but, while these other feelings that were near her seemed to be able to move around, Ginny could not.

So Ginny floated, but with no sensory input other than the sense of these feelings floating around her, it was impossible to know how long she waited.

Then Ginny felt a tug, and she started to move, but it wasn't as if she was moving herself. In fact it was more like she was being towed along by some outside force, a force that was gradually pulling her closer all the time. As she moved, Ginny was aware that she was getting further and further away from the pain and suffering, but she was getting gradually closer to the evil feelings. In fact, one of them seemed to be very close.

Soon, she stopped floating and once again she was hanging there motionless. The only thing she could sense now was one feeling of evil, but it was now tinged with some other emotion that she couldn't quite figure out. Then Ginny was being pulled once again, this time downwards like water being drained from a bath. Down and down she spiralled, completely unable to resist the unrelenting pull.

Suddenly, everything tingled and she could almost feel her body again. Then everything around her seemed to twist and Ginny felt a stretching sensation that was rather similar to Apparition and, quite suddenly, she could see again.

_I'm back in my body!_ Ginny thought, but then, before she could even begin to try to comprehend what had just happened she felt someone touching her.

Ginny bolted upright and came face to face with a man she didn't know. The man had black robes on, that meant he was a Death Eater...a Death Eater had his hands on her!

Acting completely on instinct, Ginny kicked, taking the Death Eater completely by surprise. Her kick impacted with the Death Eater's head and he crumpled to the floor.

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING!" Ginny screamed at the Death Eater, kicking him again, despite the fact he was unconscious. "WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO DO!"

She felt absolutely sick. He must have thought her body no longer had a soul... so... Ginny couldn't think about it. It was just too horrible to think about.

Ginny paced the room several times, trying to clear her head and to understand what had happened to her.

She had somehow survived a Dementor's Kiss. She had never heard of anyone surviving a Dementor's Kiss before.

_Mind,_ Ginny thought. _My boyfriend has survived a Killing Curse and that had never happened before either._

_So,_ Ginny continued to think, running through what she remembered before she returned to her body, trying to work out what had happened. _The Dementor Kissed me, but somehow it didn't actually take my soul, it only made it leave my body for a while, but my soul eventually found its way back... and just in time, too, _she finished, staring with hatred at the Death Eater and feeling sorely tempted to cross the room and give him another good kick.

Having come up with the best possible explanation she could for now, Ginny looked around the room she was in. It seemed to be some sort of small sitting room with a fireplace. It was richly carpeted and furnished with several lavishly decorated chairs.

_Okay, Ginny, _she thought, pausing in the centre of the room, still trying to take everything in. _You need to come up with a plan. You need to get out of here and get back to Adam._

The first thing Ginny realised was that she needed a wand. So, she crossed the room and relieved the Death Eater of his and, for the first time, she took a look at him. What she saw shocked her; he was young, probably only about the same as age as Percy. _How could someone so young be so evil?_

Immediately feeling better now she had a wand, Ginny fired a Stunner into the man and, conjuring ropes, she tied him up, but, even before she had finished tying him up, there was a knock on the door.

"Smith!" A voice from outside the door said. "Finish up in there, they want you downstairs..." the voice paused waiting for an answer.

Ginny stood there frozen in shock. She couldn't believe that she'd been discovered so soon.

"Smith?" The voice said again. "Are you in there?"

Ginny knew that she only had seconds before the man entered the room, so she gripped her wand tightly, ready to Stun him as soon as he came in. Then, she had another idea and so, muffling her mouth with her hand and trying to make her voice sound as deep as possible she replied.

"Just a minute!"

"Smith?" The voice replied.

"Just a minute I said," Ginny replied, trying to make her voice louder without making it shrill.

"Okay, okay!" The voice replied, and Ginny felt a surge of triumph. "I can hear you. I'll wait out here in the corridor. It's all gone to hell downstairs anyway."

Hopeful that she had at least bought a few minutes to come up with a plan, Ginny looked around the room frantically for ideas. Crossing to the window, she looked outside, trying to make out how easy it would be for her to escape through it but, as she looked out of the window, Ginny realised that she wouldn't be getting out that way. She was on at least the third or fourth floor, and even in the dark. She could see cloaked figures patrolling the grounds.

_I can't fight my way out of the house and past all of these Death Eaters on my own! _Ginny thought in desperation. _So, what can I do?_

Then, her eyes settled on the crumpled form the Death Eater on the floor._ I wonder..._ she thought.

Ginny quickly crossed the room, and started removing the robes from the Death Eater. Thankfully, he had other clothes on underneath, so Ginny took the black robes, his boots and mask off him and started to put them on herself.

Finally, after a few minutes of fiddling around, shortening the robes slightly, struggling to secure the overlarge boots and finally hiding the man's body as best as she could in the fireplace, Ginny was dressed as a Death Eater.

_This won't fool anyone!_ Ginny suddenly realised. _I'm a good few inches shorter than him!_ She paused. _Come on, Ginny. This is your best chance to get out of here._ _You can do this!_

So, tucking her hair firmly behind her head to ensure it wasn't visible, Ginny raised the hood, put on the man's mask and walked over to the door.

So, taking a deep breath and gripped her wand just in case, Ginny opened the door and stepped outside onto the landing.

"Finally!" another cloaked Death Eater said, rising from where he was sitting on the chair, then he chuckled. "But then I don't blame you. It's all gone to hell downstairs. The Dark Lord arrived and is treating Lestrange and Malfoy to the business end of his wand."

Ginny froze in horror. Voldemort was here!

"Anyway," the other man said taking a pace towards her and holding out a black gloved hand. "I'm Jugson."

Ginny paused for just a second, trying to take in what had just happened. The man, Jugson, didn't suspect anything because he didn't know the Death Eater Ginny was pretending to be!

Ginny realised she had to act before he became suspicious, held out her similarly gloved and tried to give him the manliest hand shake she could muster.

"I'm Smith," Ginny replied, trying to keep her voice low and gruff.

"Well," Jugson continued. "You wanna go back downstairs, or hide around up here?"

"Er..." Ginny paused, unsure if this could be a test or not.

"We're probably better off up here, anyway. Apparently, Potter escaped and took something valuable with him. So I'm going to stay out of the way until the Dark Lord's finished taking out his temper on the bosses."

"What was that?" A new voice said, and Ginny had to stop herself recoiling in horror as Lucius Malfoy climbed the stairs towards them. "Trying to hide away up here and avoid all the work, eh?"

"No, boss!" Jugson quickly replied. "We were..."

"Save it, Jugson," Malfoy said, scorn obvious in his voice. "I don't want to waste my time with the likes of you," then he paused turning to face Ginny and asked. "Who are you?"

"Smith," Ginny replied, deciding that it was far better to keep her answers short.

Malfoy paused for a second. "Oh, yes. I remember you now. Don't you have a relative in my son's year at Hogwarts?" he smirked. "A Hufflepuff by all accounts, if I remember correctly."

"Yeah," Ginny grunted. "My nephew," she said, rapidly trying to come up with something to say to Malfoy. "Wanted him to be in Slytherin, but ..."

"Ah, don't we all!" Malfoy replied, suddenly sounding jovial. "Of course, Draco had no trouble with his Sorting, but I guess all families can't keep the same pedigree," then his expression hardened. "You two are to go to Hogwarts. The Dark Lord knows that is where Potter is going next."

"Hogwarts... at this time of night!" Jugson exclaimed.

"You are complaining?" Malfoy snapped, all pretence of friendliness gone.

"No!" Jugson quickly stammered. "No!"

"Very good," Malfoy replied. "Now get moving."

Then, without any further pleasantries, Malfoy turned on the spot and strode off down the stairs.

Jugson sighed. "Let's go then," he said and then muttered under his breath. "Babysitting a bunch of bloody kids."

The two of them began a trek through Malfoy Manor. As they walked, Ginny allowed Jugson to lead, as she wasn't actually sure where they are were going. On their way back through the large house, Ginny walked through the kitchen where she had been tortured earlier, only now it had several Death Eaters in it eating and drinking. As she walked through the room, Ginny felt her breath hitch in her throat when the eyes of Death Eaters all turned briefly to her, but, as she continued walking they ignored her, assuming that she was one of them.

They walked through the now pitch black grounds, towards the gate and, when they reached it, Ginny hesitated for a second, forcing Jugson to open the gate and earning her a funny look.

Once outside the gates, Jugson paused on the path, and Ginny suddenly realised he was about to Apparate away.

_This is it!_ Ginny thought._ I can just Apparate away now!_ _I can meet up with Adam!_ She paused. _But what if Adam has gone to Hogwarts? We've been trying to figure out a way to get into the school for weeks, and this my be my only chance of getting into the school._

"Wait!" She called, flinching when she realised how high pitched her voice sounded. "Where are you Apparating to?"

Jugson stared at her. "Are you serious?" he snapped, glaring at her. "We Apparate to the school gates."

Ginny nodded back at him, and, before she ended up making him anymore suspicious, she visualised the gates of Hogwarts and, turning on the spot, she disappeared with a pop.

As soon as she reappeared at Hogwarts, a high pitched shriek filled the air around her, causing her to jump violently and immediately spin around, searching for the source of the noise. With no sign of the thing that was making the horrible clamour, Ginny grabbed her wand and stood ready to defend herself.

When there was a loud pop from nearby, Ginny spun around yet again, this time coming face to face with Jugson.

"Cancel the Charm!" Jugson roared at her, then he waved his wand and the noise ceased. "What the hell are you playing at?" He shouted at her. "Why did you set it off? It's supposed to ignore us..." then he paused, and stared at her.

Ginny felt her stomach drop and she gripped her wand. He was getting suspicious.

"The Charm is supposed to ignore people bearing the Dark Mark," Jugson said dangerously, pointing his wand at her. "Show me your Mark."

Ginny froze, trying to decide what to do. Should she just Stun him? But if she did that, then there was no way she could get into the school.

If Adam was coming here this was where she needed to be. They had been struggling for weeks to figure out how they could sneak into the school, if only she could think of a way to convince Jugson that she was a Death Eater she would be able to sneak in and be in the best position possible to help Adam! Within a second, Ginny had decided what she had to do. Now that she thought about it, she didn't need to convince him.

"_Imperio!"_ She shouted.

The Imperius Curse was the strangest feeling Ginny had ever felt. It was as if an invisible thread suddenly joined her brain and Jugson's. She could see the thoughts flowing through his mind like the voice of a singer coming through the Wizarding Wireless.

_Carry on as normal. I am a Death Eater. I am Smith. Open the gate and lead me up to the school,_ Ginny inserted into the man's thoughts, and immediately he walked over to the school gates and raised his arm.

Apparently, the enchantments on the school had been changed to recognise the Dark Mark as some sort of key because immediately the gates to the school creaked open.

Acting almost as if he was on auto-pilot, Jugson, with Ginny following him, walked up towards the school. Ginny was amazed at the power of the Imperius Curse; she had expected it would be like Jugson was her puppet, but it wasn't. He was continuing to act independently, except that he now listened to her orders and took what she said as absolute fact.

_Hop!_ Ginny thought in the direction of Jugson, and she noticed with satisfaction that the Death Eater hoped once as he walked up towards the school.

Ginny couldn't help but grin at this. If she could just keep Jugson under control, she might just be able to stay undercover long enough to help Adam... assuming Voldemort was right and he was actually coming here. That thought made Ginny pause. What if Adam didn't come? She could just have Apparated to where they left the tent..._ No!_ Ginny corrected herself. They had to defeat Voldemort and right now she was in the best possible position to try and find the final Horcrux, assuming that Adam had managed to get the one from Malfoy Manor.

_Tell me what our job here will be?_ Ginny commanded Jugson.

"We must watch the students," Jugson replied in deadpan voice. "Make sure there is no trouble, and intervene if there is. Unfortunately, Snape is adamant that we do no permanently damage any of them."

Ginny shuddered at the thought of Death Eaters punishing the students and for the first time she actually thought about what it must be like to have been at Hogwarts with Snape in charge. _Still_, Ginny thought. _While I'm here I may be able to help the students as well as Adam._

**Adam  
February 24th 1998**

When Adam awoke, he was lying on his back on something soft. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was in his bedroom in the tent.

Then suddenly everything came crashing down around him. He remembered the trip to Malfoy Manor, he remembered their capture and escape... he remembered.

_Ginny..._

Adam felt tears welling up in his eyes as his mind replayed the Dementor's Kiss. He saw the Dementor clamp its mouth over Ginny's face. He saw Ginny struggling, and he saw Ginny's body flop limply as the Dementor sucked out her soul.

Ginny was gone.

Adam turned over and buried his face into his pillow, trying to make the pain go away.

Ginny was gone, and he hadn't been able to save her! He had failed her.

He lay there for a long time, crying or just staring blankly into his pillow feeling at a complete loss for what to do. He felt empty. Like half of him had been cut away.

_Oh... Ginny_

Then, eventually, something occurred to Adam through the haze of grief. His last memory was of him trying to get to Ginny, so how had he ended up back at the tent?

Hermione! Hermione or Luna must have done something. If he had reached Ginny maybe he could have done something.

So, determined to find out what exactly had happened last night, and because he felt a sudden call of nature, Adam dragged himself out of bed and walked slowly into the main area of the tent, which was lit by the early morning sunshine pouring in through the open flap.

There was only one person in there, but it wasn't the person he wanted to see more than anything in world. It was Hermione.

"Hermione," Adam said, his voice coming out as a rasp.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, turning around on the sofa so she was facing him. "How... how are you feeling?"

"What happened?" Adam asked bluntly. "How did I get here?"

"I..." Hermione stammered, and only then did Adam notice that her face was stained with tears. "I brought you."

"The last thing I remember was trying to get to Ginny," Adam said in a dull voice. "What happened?"

Hermione froze. "I..." she began "I Stunned you..." her voice trailed away. "We...we had to get out of there."

"You..." Adam said. "You Stunned me?"

Hermione only nodded in response. "You," she choked back a sob. "You wouldn't leave. I... I had to..."

"Damn right I wouldn't leave!" Adam snapped. "I was trying to save Ginny!"

"Adam, no!" Hermione cried leaping to her feet. "I..." she choked back a sob. "I saw the Dementor Kiss her! She was gone!"

"I STILL COULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING!" Adam snarled.

Hermione was now in tears. "When a Dementor Kisses a person it takes their soul; all that is left is an empty body," she explained tearfully. "If you'd have gotten there it wouldn't have been Ginny, just... a body."

"I know what a Dementor's Kiss does, Hermione," Adam said derisively. "I still..." he faltered. "I was supposed to protect her... she was my... " His voice broke and he felt himself slumping down to the floor.

Within a second, Hermione was at his side and she put her arm around him.

"I love her, Hermione," Adam said despairingly. "I love her and I couldn't protect her. What use am I?"

"Harry," Hermione said weakly. "There was nothing you could have done..."

"I don't know if I can go on without her," Adam continued rambling. "I need her. I can't do it on my own. "

"Do what, Harry?"

"I..." Adam hesitated. "I have to beat him, Hermione."

"You-Know-Who?"

Adam nodded numbly. _How could I beat Voldemort without Ginny's help?_ That thought made him jump. The whole reason they had broken into Malfoy Manor in the first place was to get Hufflepuff's cup. The Cup! Where was it?

Adam leapt to his feet, and dashed back into his bedroom to find the overcoat he had worn last night. There, in one of the pockets, was the small Horcrux cup.

He had two of the Horcruxes now, and with two already destroyed plus Nagini, it only left him one more to find. There was only one place left to look.

Adam dashed across the tent, passing a now completely bewildered Hermione, and entered Ginny's area of the tent. He rummaged around in the drawer that she kept her clothes in until his fingers closed around a hard object. Pulling his hand back he withdrew the locket.

Then the scent hit him...and Adam's world came crashing down around him once more. His hand smelt like Ginny.

Allowing himself to sink down onto her bed, he rummaging around before withdrawing Ginny's favourite jumper and holding it tightly against him. The jumper was the one her mother had knitted her the year the Death Eaters had attacked the Burrow. She loved it because it reminded her of home.

As he sat there Adam cuddled up against the jumper inhaling its heavenly scent. He looked up briefly, to find Hermione standing at the door of the bedroom staring at him.

"I..." he began, but soon stopped, finding that he just couldn't continue.

"I'll..." Hermione began hesitantly. "I'll leave you alone." she paused, half turning and leaving the room. "I miss her, too, you know."

Adam could only nod numbly in response, but, as Hermione left, he felt a new sense of determination form within him.

He would find all of the Horcruxes - for Ginny.

He would defeat Voldemort - for Ginny.

The only place they still had to search for the final Horcrux was Hogwarts. He would go there.

The prophecy had said, _'and either must die at the hand of the other_' and, even though he had put it out of his mind as much as possible, Adam had secretly feared he would die at Voldemort's hand, but now that prospect didn't seem so terrifying anymore.


	17. Chapter 16

**Adam  
February 24th 1998**

Adam found that if he focused his mind on the task in front of him the pain wasn't as bad. It still hurt, worse than anything he could have imagined, but at least if he focused his mind on finding the final Horcruxes and bringing down Voldemort, he could actually motivate himself to get out of bed and take action.

So, after spending nearly the entire day lying, sometimes dozing, on Ginny's bed. He'd awoken suddenly, knowing without a doubt, that Voldemort now knew that he was searching for the Horcruxes. Suddenly feeling a new sense of determination come over him, Adam realised he had to take action now or Voldemort may be able to find that last Horcrux and move it, or, even worse, he might be able to make another.

So, taking a deep breath and trying to focus his mind solely on the last remaining Horcrux, Adam stood up and began making preparation to break into Hogwarts.

A few minutes later, Adam strode into the living area of the tent and, upon seeing Hermione sitting at the kitchen table, he asked. "Where did Luna say she was going to take Ollivander?"

"She said something about somewhere she could hide with her dad, and that her dad could get him medical attention," Hermione replied, putting down what she was reading.

"Okay," replied Adam. "Are you ready? I want to get going."

Finally, after a few minutes of Hermione dashing around making a frantic preparations, they were ready to go. "Do you have everything? I don't think we'll be back here anytime soon," Adam asked, once Hermione had sorted herself out.

"Yes," she nodded, tapping her bag. "I have."

Adam had packed his own treasured possessions into the magically extended pocket of his jacket; he had his wand, invisibility cloak, the map, the two Horcruxes and a few of Ginny's things that he couldn't bear to be parted from.

"So," Hermione began. "What's the plan?"

"We Apparate to Hogsmeade, and then find a way into the school."

"That's it?" Hermione questioned.

"Yes," Adam replied bluntly, wishing desperately that it was Ginny here with him and not Hermione. "I know a few ways in and out of the school."

"All right," Hermione replied dubiously, obviously not happy, but at least realising that she shouldn't argue right now.

"Okay," Adam ordered. "Take my arm, I'm going to Apparate both of us under the Cloak."

Hermione nodded and took Adam's arm without complaint and commented, "Good idea."

"It..." Adam said with a sudden renewed overpowering feeling of loss. "It was Ginny's idea originally..."

Hermione, uttering a cry of distress, immediately hugged him, but Adam pushed her away.

"Let's..." he said, trying to squash his grief and focus on what he had to do, "Let's... let's go."

"Yes, let's," Hermione replied softly and, before she could say anything else, Adam turned on the spot and Disapparated for Hogsmeade.

Mere seconds later, Adam felt his feet slam into the ground and he looked around the now darkening village. They were on the High Street of Hogsmeade, not far from the Three Broomsticks and Honeydukes.

As Adam looked around, he realised that he hadn't been here since he and Ginny..._oh_. Adam felt his insides crumple once more, and he closed his eyes to stop Hermione seeing the tears welling up in them.

Before Adam had even recovered from the latest wave of grief, a scream erupted around them. It was just like the alarm at Malfoy Manor...and Adam realised with horror that the Death Eaters knew they were here.

"Not again!" Adam groaned in frustration, as he watched lights come on the in Three Broomsticks and a group of Death Eaters pile out of the doorway. "We need to go!" He hissed to Hermione.

Grabbing the girl by the arm, Adam began to move backwards down the street, away from the Death Eaters.

"No!" Hermione whispered in response. "If we wait, they may just go past us. They might know we're here, but they can't know where we are."

"But..." Adam began to protest.

"Ssh!" Hermione hissed and gripped Adam's wrist tightly.

By now the Death Eaters were getting close to them, and Adam realised that Hermione had been right. If they ran, they would make noise and probably give themselves away but if they stood still...

"It has to be Potter!" One of the Death Eaters cried. "He has to be here. Spread out and find him!"

Adam watched as the Death Eaters began scouring the High Street, and, as their search grew ever closer to him, Adam realised that Hermione was suddenly clinging onto him, as if for dear life.

"It'll be okay," he said, trying to reassure her.

"Can we just go," Hermione asked in a very weak voice. "I don't want to be captured again."

"No," Adam replied softly. "We have to do this."

"He's not here!" shouted a Death Eater that was peering into a window of a nearby building.

"He is!" the first Death Eater replied. "We'd have heard if they Apparated out. If we can't sniff them out, then the Dementors will."

Dementors!

The mere thought of Dementors brought a new terror to Adam, worse than anything he'd ever felt before, and suddenly he found himself standing there, completely unable to move, with the image of Ginny being kissed playing over and over again in his mind.

"Harry..." Hermione shook him. "Harry!"

Adam didn't respond.

"Adam!" Hermione said.

Adam blinked and turned to face Hermione.

"Follow me," she said urgently. "They've gone back up towards the Three Broomsticks. I've got an idea, but I need you to follow me."

With that, Hermione began guiding Adam back up the High Street away from the pub.

"Where," Adam began, still feeling like his head was stuffed with cotton wool. "Where are we going?"

"Out of the village," Hermione replied simply.

The two of them continued slowly and cautiously down the high street and then Adam felt it.

The Dementors were coming.

In desperation Adam numbly fumbled for his wand.

"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "We just need to get away. A Patronus will give us away."

"No," Adam began. "I need them gone. I don't want them anywhere near me. I...I can't."

"Listen," Hermione exclaimed, grabbing Adam's arm and pulling him down a side street. "We need to get out of the village."

Hermione continued pulling him along, and it wasn't until they were half way down the narrow street that Adam came back to himself.

"Wait!" he exclaimed. "Now they know we're here, if we leave the village we'll never be able to get back in."

"But we don't need to," Hermione answered. "We can skirt around it to get to Hogwarts."

"We can't get in through the gates!" Adam snapped back. "We need to get in through the Shrieking Shack!"

Hermione stared at him in response and then replied softly, looking hurt. "You didn't tell me that..."

Adam sighed and turned away angrily. _Why couldn't Hermione have been kissed instead of Ginny!_

"What is going on out here!" A rough voice exclaimed as if from nowhere.

Adam froze, and he looked around desperately searching for the source of the voice.

"Potter, is that you?" The gruff voice said again.

"It's the bartender from the Hogs Head!" Hermione exclaimed, pointing at a nearby window.

"Can we trust him?" Adam questioned. If the bartender would help them, then perhaps they could get into Hogwarts after all.

"Yes," Hermione replied. "It's Aberforth Dumbledore. Dumbledore's brother!"

That made Adam pause. Dumbledore's brother! Dumbledore had never told him he had a brother.

"Aberforth Dumbledore?" Adam shouted, suddenly beginning to feel the cold of the Dementors growing stronger.

"Potter?" The mysterious Dumbledore answered. "For Merlin's sake, get to the door! I'll let you in."

Hermione and Adam ran down the street until they came to a door, which was thrown open as they approached.

"Get inside," the man snapped, as they charged through the doorway. "Stay quiet, and stay under that cloak of yours."

Adam ventured into the building, which he now realised to be the Hog's Head pub, and he and Hermione stood silently under the cloak. Then eventually, after an agonising wait, there was the sound of pounding on the door.

Dumbledore's brother stood by the door silently for nearly a minute, before he sighed heavily and ripped it open.

"What do you want?" He snarled at the figures on the other side of the door.

"Is Potter in there?" One of the Death Eaters challenged him.

"Potter!" he snarled back. "What in Merlin's name would Potter be doing in here?"

"He's loose in the village," one of the Death Eaters replied. "And _we_ think that maybe you've seen him."

"Are you accusing me?" he roared back. "What are you going to do? Arrest me?"

"We just might," one of the Death Eaters threatened, "if you don't help us."

"Will you now?" the bartender replied. "You know as well as I do that Potter wouldn't be welcome here," the bartender continued. "He was my brother's pet and you know how I feel about _him_... plus," his voice became soft. "If your bosses run me out of town where will you lot traffic your potions and poisons?"

This seemed to give the Death Eater pause and then a few seconds later he spoke again. "Well..." the Death Eater hesitated, "very well, but let us know if you hear or see anything."

The bartender replied with a gruff snort and slammed the door closed.

"Alright," he barked, after peering out of the window for several minutes. "Come on out."

Almost immediately Adam heard Hermione sigh in relief and he pulled the cloak off them. Once free of the cloak, Adam moved away from the windows of the pub so that anyone looking in couldn't see him and sat down on a wobbly chair.

"Thank you," Adam said tiredly. "You saved us."

"You bloody fools," Aberforth replied gruffly, looking between Adam and Hermione. "What were you thinking, coming here?"

There was silence in the room and Adam just stared at the barman.

"Well, Potter," he snapped. "What were you thinking?"

Adam continued to stare at him. "We..." he paused. "I have to get into Hogwarts."

"Don't be stupid, boy!"

"I've got to!" Adam exclaimed.

"What you've got to do," said Aberforth, leaning forward, "is get as far from here as you can."

"No!" Adam argued back. "I have to. It's the only way to stop him!"

"You can't stop him, boy!" Aberforth snarled. "It's only a matter of time until You-Know-Who's won, it's over, and anyone who's pretending different is kidding themselves. It'll never be safe for you here, Potter, he wants you too badly. So go abroad, go into hiding, save yourself. Best take your girlfriend with you." He jerked a thumb at Hermione. "She'll be in danger long as she lives."

At this Adam saw red, drew his wand and pointed it at the man. "SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" He roared and then closed his eyes, trying to control himself. Ginny was his girlfriend... she had been the one for him, the only one. "I have to beat him. If I don't ... " Adam paused, and his shoulders slumped as his anger drained away into an aching feeling of emptiness. "Then, it's all been for nothing."

"Put the wand down, boy," Aberforth said gruffly, apparently completely unfazed at being held at wand point. "I read the stories about you and my brother you know," he laughed, a gruff, unpleasant sound. "A pack of lies of course, typical Albus."

Adam let his wand falter and just stared at the other Dumbledore.

"I knew my brother, Potter. He learned secrecy at our mother's knee. Secrets and lies, that's how we grew up, and Albus … he was a natural but..." he paused. "I expect you know this."

Adam growled in exasperation. "I don't have time for this. Your brother wasn't my favourite person in the world, but he knew what he was doing when it came to the war! But you..." Adam paused. "You've given up!"

"Who says I've given up?" the barman snapped back.

"You just did!" Adam exclaimed. "You said it yourself 'You-Know-Who's won'!"

"I didn't say I liked it, but it's the truth!"

"Your own brother knew how to finish You-Know-Who and he told me how!" Adam said, feeling his temper rising. "I'm going to keep going until I succeed - or I die. I know I might get killed, but I just don't care anymore! This war has taken everything from me! I'm going to kill him if it's the last thing I do!"

Adam waited for him to jeer or argue, but he did not. He merely scowled.

"I'm going to break into Hogwarts," Adam continued, "with our without your help."

Aberforth Dumbledore remained fixed where he was, gazing at Adam with eyes that were extraordinarily like Professor Dumbledore's. At last he cleared his throat, stood up, walked around the little table, and approached the stairs leading out of the bar.

"Follow me," he said gruffly as he started climbing the stairs.

Adam and Hermione followed him cautiously up the stairs, until they came to what looked like a bedroom. Once they entered the room, Aberforth walked over and stood next to a painting of a girl that was hanging over the mantelpiece.

"You know what to do," he said.

Then, taking Adam quite by surprise, the girl smiled, turned, and walked away, not as people in portraits usually did, out of the sides of their frames, but along what seemed to be a long tunnel painted behind her. They watched her slight figure retreating until finally she was swallowed by the darkness.

"There's only one way in now," said Aberforth. "You must know they've got all the old secret passageways covered at both ends, Dementors all around the boundary walls, regular patrols inside the school from what my sources tell me. The place has never been so heavily guarded. How you expect to do anything once you get inside it, with Snape in charge and the Carrows as his deputies … well, that's your lookout, isn't it? You say you're prepared to die."

"But what … ?" said Hermione, frowning at the girl's picture.

A tiny white dot had reappeared at the end of the painted tunnel, and now the girl was walking back toward them, growing bigger and bigger as she came, but there was somebody else with her now.

Suddenly, as the other person grew larger, Adam could see that it was not just one person, but two, one walking slightly behind the other. Larger and larger the two figures became, until only their heads and shoulders filled the portrait. Then the whole thing swung forward on the wall like a little door, and the entrance to a real tunnel was revealed. And out of it, clambered Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom.

Adam, Hermione, Ron and Neville stared at each other, all four of them seemingly in complete shock.

Ron was the first to move, he almost leapt forward and wrapped Hermione in a hug, before quickly breaking it, flushing bright red and turning to Adam.

"You came, Harry!" He exclaimed. "I knew you wouldn't let us down."

"Yeah," Adam replied hesitantly, suddenly feeling deeply uncomfortable coming face to face with Ginny's brother. "I'm here."

"Right," Aberforth interrupted bluntly. "Get into the tunnel, I don't want you lot here if the Death Eaters come back."

Ron and Neville nodded at the bartender and ducked their way back into the tunnel.

"Thanks, Aberforth," Neville commented. "We may have a couple of more letters for you in a few days and we think we're going to need to get someone out of the school in the next week or so."

Aberforth grunted gruffly at this news. "What do you mean? Letters I can do, Longbottom, but getting people out... If you haven't noticed there's a Caterwauling Charm on the whole village!"

Neville seemed to shrug. "She says she can get someone who can Apparate here to fetch her, we'll get whoever it is to Apparate straight into the bar."

"And risk giving me away?" Aberforth roared. "I hope you trust whoever this person is, Longbottom!"

"Of course we do!" Ron snapped back. "Look..." he paused. "Leave that to us, we won't give you away."

Adam looked at Ron with a new sense of admiration. He seemed to have really changed over the last year.

"If you say so, Weasley," Aberforth replied cynically. "Now get out of here!"

"Aberforth," Adam said as he stepped towards the tunnel. "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it, Potter," he replied. "Now get going."

With that, Aberforth hustled the four of them into the tunnel and closed it behind them. As soon as the door closed, Neville lit his wand and Adam followed him and Ron down the tunnel.

They walked for several hundred meters in silence, but, as they walked, Adam noticed Ron giving him a couple of strange looks. _What was up with him?_

"You came just in the nick of time," Neville began speaking as they walked. "Things are beginning to turn nasty."

"What?" Adam asked. "What's been happening?"

"Well," Neville continued. "Once we got your message, we set out to get what you asked for."

"You found something?" Adam asked. If somehow Ron and Neville had found the Horcrux it would make things so much easier.

"Yes," Ron replied proudly. "There was only one object from the founders in the school and we have it safely hidden for you."

"Brilliant!" Adam exclaimed, feeling, for the first time in ages, a surge of hope. "But," he paused, coming to a worrying conclusion. "Did you say getting it made things turn nasty?"

Neville paused for a second before continuing. "They started giving us detention every night until we told them where our hiding place is. At first it wasn't too bad, but then Luna vanished and Snape started getting desperate. Things began getting more–" he paused. "Intense... and in the end me and Ron had to disappear."

"Disappear?"

"We hid in the Room of Requirement," Ron clarified with a sigh. "But then they started targeting the other Gryffindors and it just snowballed from there. More people had to vanish to stop themselves from being tortured, but that seemed only to make the Carrows angrier."

Adam stared at Ron and Neville. He had no idea things had become that bad.

"Wow... guys, I never thought," Adam stammered.

"Harry," Ron replied modestly, still looking as if something was bothering him. "We only did what we had to do."

They continued walking down the tunnel for a few more minutes, and as they walked Adam became aware that the tunnel was now sloping uphill.

"We're nearly there now," Neville replied as if sensing Adam's uncertainty.

"Where does this tunnel lead?" Hermione asked as they approached what appeared to be a wooden door in the tunnel.

"The Room of Requirement," Neville answered simply as he approached the door. "When we realised we needed to get people out and find a way to get food and supplies in, it created a tunnel for that."

Neville pushed open the door and Adam followed him and Ron through into the Room of Requirement.

What Adam saw made his mouth drop open. Standing in a group in the centre of the room were a large number of students and, when they saw him, they cheered. "Harry! Harry! Harry!"

He continued to look around the room in amazement. In addition to the students there were piles of belongings and what appeared to be makeshift beds scattered around the room.

_I guess that's where they're sleeping,_ Adam thought.

"So, Harry," Ron said, disturbing him from his thoughts. "What's the plan, mate?" Then his expression changed and he seemed to grow hesitant. "I..." he continued after a long pause while he seemed to gather the courage to speak. "I was wondering if you knew what my sister and Adam are up to?"

Adam froze and choked back a sob. At the noise Ron visibly paled.

"Harry," he said, his voice now very quiet. "Has..." his voice quavered. "Has something happened to them?"

"Ron..." Adam said. "She..." his voice broke and he struggled to continue. "A Dementor..."

"No!" Ron cried, interrupting him. "You can't mean..." he trailed off in a mournful cry.

"Ron," Adam continued, trying desperately to control his own emotions. "I'm sorry..."

Adam stared at Ron, who was now just staring blankly across the room.

Suddenly, Adam felt his own grief rushing back to the surface_. How could he face Ron when he had completely and utterly failed to protect Ginny?_

Ron didn't speak against for what seemed like an eternity "My..." he began in a small voice. "My sister is dead?"

All Adam could do was nod numbly in response. Then Ron slowly sank to the floor, and Hermione quickly ran to his side. He looked completely lost and defeated.

"You..." he said in a dull voice. "You got her killed."

Adam stared at him for a second, but then, unable to bear the look of grief on his friend's face, he stalked back across the room pushing past the few DA members who tried to talk to him. Once on his own, Adam rested his forehead against the wall and closed his eyes.

He wouldn't let anyone see him cry.

**Ginny  
February 24th 1998**

Ginny had now been on supposed guard duty at Hogwarts for several hours and she was completely and utterly exhausted.

As soon as she and the currently Imperiused Jugson had arrived at Hogwarts, they had been directed by the two Death Eaters on the gate to go up to the fourth floor. During their encounter with the Death Eaters, Ginny had made Jugson do all the talking. If Ginny spoke, she was convinced she would give them away. After all, in her opinion, she still sounded like a young girl and would never pass as a Death Eater.

Once they had climbed to the fourth floor they were, according to Jugson, supposed to patrol the upper floors of the school. Ginny had made a token gesture of doing her job by patrolling herself and making Jugson walk up and down the corridors as well, but, if any students were out of bed, Ginny didn't feel particularly inclined to put much effort into catching them.

"Finally," A voice drawled as they approached the fourth floor landing, after one such patrol.

As they reached the figure, Ginny had to bite back the powerful surge of anger she felt. It was Snape. He'd killed Dumbledore and framed Adam in the process.

"Well...?" Snape questioned as he stood there.

With a start, Ginny realised that neither of them had actually said anything in response.

"Headmaster," Jugson replied at her command.

"Any sign of any intruders or students out of bed?" He questioned silkily.

"None," Jugson replied. "All quiet."

"Good," Snape replied simply. "Because you will now come with me, I have a new task for you." With that, Snape glared at both of them, his gaze lingering on Jugson just long enough to make Ginny nervous. Then he snapped. "Come on then," and stormed off back down the staircase.

They followed Snape across the school into the Headmaster's office. As they entered the office, Ginny froze, her breath catching in her throat, as she saw a large portrait of Professor Dumbledore hanging behind the desk, staring straight at her.

"Problem, Smith?" Snape snapped.

"N-No," Ginny hurriedly replied, desperately hoping that she was able to make her voice sound deep enough.

Snape stared at her for what felt like an eternity, and she couldn't help but move her hand slowly towards the stolen wand she now carried.

"Good," Snape said briskly, then he moved to sit behind the desk.

It was only then, with Snape's attention now elsewhere, that Ginny realised that the office had changed considerably since the last time she had been here. Gone were the tables containing all of Dumbledore's instruments. The Headmaster's desk itself was now nearly completely bare. The only items on it were a neat pile of blank parchment, an ink pot and...

When Ginny saw the other object that was on the desk she felt herself fill with fury once more. Sitting proudly in the centre of the desk was a single basilisk fang, the mere sight of which made Ginny shudder, and a ring... a ring that matched exactly the description of the ring that had killed Professor Dumbledore.

_Is he taunting me?_ Ginny wondered in alarm, feeling her hand moving once more towards the wand.

"I have been contacted by the Dark Lord himself," Snape began. "He is now certain that Potter is either currently attempting to get into Hogwarts or is already here..."

Ginny was barely able to stifle a gasp. _Adam was here!_

"So you two..." Snape began, but, before he could continue the Floo came to life. "What?" Snape snarled.

"Headmaster!" came the wheezy voice of Argus Filch. "Students on the seventh Floor and Potter is with them!"

Snape extinguished the Floo and then did the impossible, he smiled. "I have you now, Potter," he paused, turning back to Ginny and Jugson. "Smith, Jugson, come with me. Once we confirm it is actually Potter we will summon the Dark Lord. I will not have the Dark Lord summoned on the word of some _Squib_."

With that Snape turned to leave.

"Follow me, you two. Move it!" he snarled when neither Ginny nor Jugson seemed to move in response to his actions.

Jumping to her feet, Ginny ordered Jugson to immediately follow Snape and, then, as Snape made his way from the room, Ginny quickly grabbed the fang and the ring, pocketed them in amongst the other Death Eater accessories that seemed to be in the pockets of her robe and left the room.

**Adam  
February 24th 1998**

"It's just down here, Harry," Neville said excitedly as he guided Adam through the strange room the DA had discovered.

"So how did you find this place?" Adam asked.

Neville shrugged in response. "We asked for somewhere to hide the hat and it gave us this room."

"That hat!" Adam exclaimed, stopping stare at Neville. "What hat?"

"The Sorting Hat!" Neville exclaimed, now looking like his previous nervy self once more. "Isn't that what you wanted?"

"NO!" Adam shouted. "I needed an artefact of the founders. How could you get it wrong?"

"That hat is an artefact of the founders! It belonged to Godric Gryffindor, we spent ages in the library researching and we risked our necks for it!" Neville snapped back angrily. "Don't you dare belittle what we've been doing, Harry!"

Adam paused for a second and took a deep breath, calming himself down.

"Sorry, Neville," Adam replied. "I'm on edge. Please, show me the hat. I won't know if it's what I'm after until I see it."

"I..." Neville hesitated for a second. "I'm sorry for shouting and..." he hesitated. "I'm sorry for Ron. He had no right to accuse you of..." Neville's voice choked slightly. "Getting Ginny killed."

"No, he didn't," Adam replied, closing his eyes briefly. "Let's get on with this," he ordered, not willing to risk his thoughts dwelling on Ginny. "Show me the hat."

They continued winding their way through the room until they turned a corner and then he felt it. The same feeling he'd felt in the Gaunt house. There was a Horcrux here.

"Yes..." Adam murmured, feeling a touch of excitement. Another Horcrux, one more step towards bringing down Voldemort and avenging Ginny.

"This way," Neville said, gesturing towards a large damaged cupboard.

Once Neville reached the cupboard, he ripped open the doors and, retrieving the Sorting Hat from inside, he passed it to Adam.

Adam felt his shoulders slump as soon as he touched that hat. This wasn't it, but yet the feeling was still there.

"Neville," Adam said. "Tell me what you found out about the artefacts of the founders."

"There was Gryffindor's sword, Hufflepuff's cup and Ravenclaw's Diadem," Neville supplied. "Those are all the artefacts we knew about, apart from the Sorting Hat."

Adam nodded and his eyes roamed the room, searching for something, anything that could be a Horcrux.

Then his eyes settled on a tiara that was set on a statue of an extremely ugly creature and Adam knew that this was it. In a flash he grabbed the tiara off the statue and clasped it in his hands, feeling the familiar involuntary shudder of repulsion.

"Yes," Adam hissed under his breath.

"What is it?" Neville asked.

At Neville's question, Adam jumped, having almost forgotten that the other boy was there.

"This," Adam said almost in awe. "Is Ravenclaw's Diadem, and it's what I've been searching for."

Neville gaped at him. "So the Sorting Hat..."

"Is completely useless to me," Adam replied, but then, seeing Neville's expression, he continued. "But if you hadn't hidden it here, then I'd never have found the diadem. So thank you."

Neville seemed only to be able to nod jerkily in response.

"Now," Adam said. "Let's get back so that we can get others back into the other room."

Adam and Neville quickly retracted their steps back to the doors that led into the corridor, where the rest of the DA had gathered.

"Okay everyone," Adam said as he approached. "Let's get out there. Neville will summon the room with the tunnel and then every back inside. Okay?"

The rest of the DA signalled their understanding, and Adam was just about to give the order to go when Hermione called out. "Harry!"

Adam turned to face her and noticed that she was still sitting on the floor next to a desolate looking Ron.

"Come on, Ron," Adam shouted across the room. "We need to get moving."

Ron didn't move.

Sighing, Adam crossed the room. All he wanted to do at that moment than to knock some sense into Ron. How could he sit there moping when there was work to be done? Didn't he realise that Adam was feeling Ginny's loss far more keenly that he was? If anyone had a right to grieve by then surely it was him?

But, deep down, Adam knew that if he did that he would probably drive Ron away.

So he approached Ron, and knelt down in front of him.

"Ron," he said softly.

Ron still did not move.

"Ron, look at me please," Adam said softly.

Ron did, eventually, look up and Adam saw that his eyes were red from tears.

"Ron," Adam continued. "I know it hurts..."

"Do you?" Ron almost spat back. "You hardly knew her... she was my sister."

"I..." Adam said, fighting with everything he had not to break down. "I do... listen, can you come with me. There's something I want to show you."

Ron stared at him for a second, before allowing Adam to pull him to his feet.

"Hermione," Adam said softly. "Can you..."

Hermione nodded, obviously getting the message, and wandered back across the room towards Neville, while Adam moved away, hoping that Ron would follow him.

"Well?" Ron said harshly once they were out of sight of the other DA members.

Without saying anything, Adam turned to face Ron and, taking out his wand, he applied the glamour spells needed to turn him back into Adam.

As the spells took effect, Ron's expression turned from anger to one of complete and utter shock.

"A-A-Adam," he stammered. Then, suddenly, his face hardened. "What are you trying to pull?"

"No, Ron!" Adam exclaimed. "I really am Adam."

"B-B-But..." Ron stammered.

"In my first year, you absolutely hated me because you thought I was a dark wizard. The first time I came to the Burrow I arrived unexpectedly late at night because I'd run away from the home."

"Okay, okay," Ron managed to splutter. "But how..."

"I found out in my third year that someone stole me from my home, disguised me as Adam and then left me in a park."

Ron simply stared at him. "Why? Why didn't you tell us?"

"I-I-I _couldn't_...but..." Adam said, his voice quavering again. "The reason I'm telling you now is... I need you're help, and I also need you to understand that others are hurting... I loved Ginny too... but," he paused, taking a deep breath and furiously blinking his eyes. "I... I have to carry on, and I need you to carry on, too."

Then Ron, taking Adam completely by surprise, dived forward and hugged him.

"Adam!" He exclaimed. "I'm...I'm so glad you're okay. When...when Harry. When you said Ginny was dead, I thought you were both gone," he hesitated. "I'd thought I'd lost a sister and a brother..."

"Ron..." Adam said weakly, still hugging the other boy. "We have... we have to carry on and defeat Voldemort. For Ginny."

Ron paused for a second before replying. "For Ginny... She'd want us to carry on."

"She would," Adam said softly, breaking the hug. "Are you ready to go back out?"

Ron nodded.

"Give me a second then, to get rid of these glamours."

"Why?" Ron asked.

"It..." Adam sighed. "It's just easier to be Harry right now... less explaining to do."

"Okay," Ron said. "Once... once this is over I want you to tell me the full story. Everything, including why you hid this from everyone for so long."

Once the two had collected themselves, they walked back to the doors and rejoined the rest of the DA.

"Right," Adam ordered, as he approached. "Let's get this door open."

The door was opened and the DA crept, one by one, out into the corridor.

"Okay," Adam said in a low voice, once everyone was in the corridor and the doors to the room where the Horcrux had been hidden had vanished. "Neville."

Neville nodded in response and then started to pace. Once... twice...

"There they are!" A voice shouted from the far end of the corridor, causing Adam to spin around.

Standing at the end of the corridor was Filch and two other people that Adam didn't recognise.

"It's the Carrows!" One of the DA members cried fearfully just as Adam saw Filch scurrying back around the corner.

"Well, well," the female Death Eater mocked, pointing her wand at them. "If it isn't Harry Potter!"

The two groups stared at each other for a second, seemingly sizing each other up.

"Stun them!" Adam shouted. "Filch has gone for help! _Stupefy!_"

As soon as Adam's spell lanced down the corridor, the Death Eaters moved and suddenly spells were being fired back and forward on both sides.

"_Protego!_" Adam brought up a shield and leapt in front of a fourth year Gryffindor who was way out of his depth. "Stay back! _Stupefy!_"

As the spells continued fly up and down the corridor, Adam realised that the two Death Eaters had retreated into a corner so that they could shield each other, rendering the DA's spells ineffective.

"Neville!" Adam shouting, having lost sight of him. "What are you doing? Get the room open and start getting the others in there! Now!"

"Right!" Neville shouted back above the noise of spell fire.

"_Stupefy! Stupefy!_" Adam roared, trying to ensure that no one targeted Neville while he was summoning the room.

"It's open!" Neville shouted. "Let's go!"

"_Expulso!_" Adam roared, hoping that he'd be able to provide a distraction so that the DA could slip back into the Room of Requirement.

His spell sailed high above the two Death Eaters and collided with the wall, filling the corridor with dust and pieces of stone.

"Go! Go!" Adam shouted at the DA members. "Get into the room!"

As the others dashed for safety, Adam, with Ron now by his side, backed up towards the door anxious to deflect any of the randomly fired spells that the two Death Eaters were still firing.

Then, just as he was about to dive into the room, the dust began to vanish, as if it was being sucked up by a giant vacuum cleaner, and Adam saw a cloaked figure emerge.

It was Snape.

When he saw the man, Adam felt fury fill him. Apart from Voldemort, Snape was the person he hated most in the world. He'd killed Dumbledore and framed Adam. It was Snape that had set in motion the chain of events leading to Ginny's death.

Without thinking, Adam leapt forward and roared, "_Confringo! Stupefy! Stupefy!_" furiously firing a series of spells towards Snape and the two Death Eater lackeys he'd brought with him.

**Ginny  
February 24th 1998**

Ginny pounded down the corridor behind Snape, her mind racing as she tried to figure a way out of this situation. She certainly didn't want to attack Adam or any of the students, but if she revealed herself now Snape would kill her. As much as she desperately wanted to get back to Adam, right now she needed to be practical.

As they approached the corridor which housed the doors to the Room of Requirement, Ginny began to cough as the air became filled with dust.

"Here they are!" Snape shouted, as he rounding the corner, seemingly sucking all the dust into his wand as he went.

Following Snape, Ginny skidded around the corner and stared for a second at the sight in front of her. Adam was standing in the centre of the hallway, along with several other members of the DA, including her brother. But, when Ginny looked at him, she drew a shocked breath; his eyes were blazing with anger. She didn't think she'd ever seen him so angry.

Then before she'd quite realised what was happening, he was firing spells at them, forcing Ginny to dance to one side to avoid them.

_Adam was trying to curse me!_ Ginny realised with horror, but then her rational mind kicked in and she remembered that she was currently dressed as a Death Eater, so of course Adam would try to fight against her.

The spells started to fly up and down the corridor as more of the DA emerged from the Room of Requirement to help and the two Death Eaters that the DA had previously cornered also joined the fray.

"_Protego!_" Ginny cried deflecting one spell and then jumping to the side to avoid another.

"Smith!" Snape's voice suddenly roared out above the sound of spells. "Are you going to help, or just stand there?"

With a jolt, Ginny realised that Snape was watching what she was doing. She would need to try and blend in or she was done for!

"_Stupefy! Confringo!_" Ginny cried, sending a series of poorly aimed spells at the DA. Perhaps she could convince Snape she was simply an incompetent Death Eater instead of an impostor.

The spells continued to fly as two more Death Eaters joined the fight and Ginny realised that the DA was slowly but surely getting beaten back.

_Run away!_ Ginny thought desperately._ Why don't you hide in the room? Adam what are you doing?_

Ginny danced to the left, avoiding a Stunner that Adam had sent her way, and then back to the right, bringing herself closer to the wall. Then, without warning, her vision filled with a tremendous white light, her hearing was muffled by an explosion and her body was tossed to the floor like a rag doll.

When she next opened her eyes, Ginny immediately panicked. She was now lying sprawled on the floor of the corridor and feeling very sore from hitting the floor so hard. _I must have blacked out_!

Knowing that she was extremely vulnerable sprawled on the floor, Ginny quickly got back to her feet, checking that her mask was still in place in the process.

"_Protego!_" she shrieked, narrowly avoiding being hit by a Stunner as she stood up. "_Stupefy!_" She cried, firing a spell back towards the DA angrily.

_Oh no!_ Ginny despaired, as she saw her spell stun Seamus, dropping him to the floor. _Get it together, Ginny! You're on their side!_

Shaking herself, Ginny continued trying to look as if she was fighting the DA without actually doing any damage, but the fight seemed to have changed dramatically in the time she'd been unconscious because there now seemed to be many more people fighting on the side of the DA and Ginny suddenly realised that it was now the Death Eaters that were losing.

As she continued to conjure shields and fire ineffectual spells at the ceiling or floor, Ginny realised that there were adults now amongst the students. _It's Professor McGonagall!_ Ginny realised with glee. _The teachers are fighting back against Snape!_

Snape appeared to have come to the same conclusion, because, at the very moment, he shouted. "Fall back!" And then charged off down the corridor.

_He's running away!_ Ginny realised and, as the spells began to fly past her with increasing frequency, she realised that she needed to run for it too.

_I just need to get out of sight, get out of these robes then I can show myself to Adam and the DA!_

The DA and teachers pursued the Death Eaters right through the school. As they ran, Ginny discovered that the Death Eaters were now the only ones not shooting at her. She was sorely tempted just to stop and give herself up, but in the frenzy of angry students and teachers behind her Ginny was desperately worried one of them would do her serious harm before she could explain herself.

Ginny charged after Snape down the marble staircase and across the Entrance Hall, spells flying as they ran. Crossing to the doors, Ginny leapt from left to right, dodging spells that were raining down around her.

As they left the school, Ginny felt the connection to the Imperiused Jugson wink out, as he was dropped to the floor from a spell fired from the battlements above.

"Leave him," Snape snarled. "Regroup at the Shrieking Shack!"

Ginny then began a mad sprint across the school grounds as she was swept along with the Death Eaters fleeing Hogwarts. Then, realising that her best chance would be to escape and hide somewhere in the grounds, Ginny slowed her pace and, once she had fallen behind the others, she changed direction and headed towards the Forbidden Forest.

However, before she'd even gotten twenty paces, the ground at her feet exploded and, with a shriek of pain, Ginny crashed to the floor and darkness claimed her.


	18. Chapter 17

**Ron  
February 24th 1998**

Ron watched with a sense of satisfaction as Harry, no Adam's, spell sent the Death Eater that had broken away from the others sprawling to the ground.

"Nice one," Ron said, as he looked out over the school grounds from their position on one of the battlements.

"Thanks," Harry replied numbly.

"We did it," Ron continued. "We drove them out of the school."

"Did we really need to go as far as shooting at them from the battlements?" Hermione questioned.

"Yes," Harry replied bitterly. "They deserve it. At least now we know they're gone."

"But for how long, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall spoke from behind them as she approached with several of the other teachers, "remains to be seen. I am unsure as to the wisdom of this move."

"What do you mean?" Ron questioned.

"Now we have driven the Carrows and Snape out, they will surely return to retake the school. They will bring more forces and they will certainly be far less forgiving than they were in the past," Professor McGonagall replied.

"Then we need to get ready to fight them off!" Harry exclaimed.

"Potter," Professor McGonagall said coldly. "How do you suggest we do that? Even with the teachers, and the Order of the Phoenix, we do not have the forces to stand against the Death Eaters and Ministry."

"Professor!" Ron exclaimed. "The DA will help, we want to help!"

"I know, Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall replied. "But I cannot allow students who are not of age to fight, and, even with those that are of age, I do not think it will be enough. Plus your presence, Potter, has virtually guaranteed that You-Know-Who himself will be here and so I must ask you. Why are you here?"

Ron watched as Harry stared at Professor McGonagall with a look that he could only describe as a mix of shock and sadness.

"Well..?" Professor McGonagall prompted, when Harry did not answer.

"Professor!" Harry stammered. "I..."

"I am not your professor, Potter," Professor McGonagall said simply, her voice softening slightly. "And I do understand that you are involved in things that Albus chose not share with the rest of us, but I must know why you chose to come here and place the lives of all the students within these walls in danger."

"I don't want to put anyone in danger!" Harry exclaimed, "There's something I need to do, Professor!"

Professor McGonagall seemed to hesitate for a second.

"Professor," Harry continued. "Can you start evacuating the younger students and I'll come with you and explain as much as I can."

"I have a way to get them out of the school," Ron added. "Through the Hog's Head Pub."

"It's the way we got in," Hermione added. "I'm sure Aberforth will help."

Professor McGonagall paused for a second, before nodding and turning to Professor Flitwick who was standing at her side. "Filius, can you begin the arrangements to seal the school and evacuate all those who are underage but," she paused, "keep an extra close eye on Slytherins, perhaps secure them in their dungeons, until you are ready to leave. I will send a Patronus Message telling Alastor to call the Order," she paused, taking a deep breath. "Potter, you come with me."

**Adam  
February 24th 1998**

Adam uneasily followed Professor McGonagall back through the school towards her office. He wasn't quite sure what he had expected of Professor McGonagall, but he certainly hadn't expected the cold response he'd received. However, when he actually thought about it, he realised that, of course, he was currently Harry Potter and not Adam Winters.

_Am I really putting the students in danger by being here?_ Adam wondered, as they continued walking down the corridor. When deciding on coming to Hogwarts all he'd thought about was defeating Voldemort. He hadn't even considered that he might be putting children in danger.

"Well, Mr. Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked, when finally, the two of them entered her office.

Adam hesitated. He couldn't bear this distant Professor McGonagall.

"Professor," he said softly. "There's something I need to show you."

Adam drew his wand and applied the glamour charms that had become second nature to him over the last two years.

As his appearance changed Professor McGonagall gasped. Adam felt his cheeks burning with shame and he looked away. He should have done this a long time ago.

When Adam opened his eyes he saw Professor McGonagall pointing her wand at him.

"What is going on?" She asked harshly. "I do not appreciate people playing games with me."

"P-P-Professor, it really is me... Adam," he stammered, suddenly feeling completely flustered. "The... the first time we met you were in your cat form, I'd been injured by two men and you came and sat with me. I..." Adam trailed off.

Suddenly, at this pronouncement Professor McGonagall's expression softened and Adam, much to his complete and utter shock, found himself enveloped in a hug.

"Adam!" She exclaimed. "I... I am so glad to see you," then she fell silent. "I must admit, I am at a loss as to why you have chosen to disguise yourself as Harry Potter."

"Erm..." Adam hesitated. "Actually, I _am_ Harry Potter."

Professor McGonagall just stared back at him. She looked completely baffled.

Adam sighed, flopped down on the chair in her office and slowly began giving Professor McGonagall the briefest possible version of his story. Once he'd finished Adam sat there in silence, waiting for the professor's reaction, but Professor McGonagall just stood there staring at him.

"I...I..." Professor McGonagall stammered. "If he wasn't already dead I would dearly love to throttle Albus Dumbledore right now!"

Despite everything, Adam couldn't help but laugh at Professor McGonagall's statement. "I've felt that way too at times," Adam confessed. "But he did leave me with the information on how to defeat Voldemort and, I hope, that by the time he gets here. I'll be ready for him."

"Adam, you are seventeen!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. "I can't let you face You-Know-Who!"

"I have to, Professor!" Adam retorted. "It's too complicated, but it has to be me. I've been working on defeating him since Dumbledore died and I'm close! I'm so close now. Voldemort is going to die!"

"Adam..." Professor McGonagall began to protest, but her words were drowned out as suddenly pain seared through Adam's head as his scar erupted in what he could only describe as white hot fury.

His vision swam, and, for a brief moment he could see Voldemort. He was standing at the gates to the school, surrounded by his followers and, as Adam watched, Voldemort pulled out his wand and raised it to his throat.

"I know that you are preparing to fight," Adam could hear the high cold voice as he came back to himself. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter," said Voldemort, "and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded.

"You have until midnight."

Adam stared at Professor McGonagall.

"Adam..." she said her voice very faint. "I believe in you, and I know Albus did, too. If you say you are following Albus' orders, then who am I to argue?" She paused, sighing deeply. "Go. Do what you have to do. I will organise the defence of the school. But please... be quick because we don't have much time."

**Ginny  
February 25th 1998  
**  
A large shudder that ran through the ground like an earthquake shocked Ginny back to wakefulness. At first she didn't know where she was, but then, from the freezing cold and the grass that she was lying on, Ginny realised that she was outside.

After taking stock of her body and determining that she was unhurt, Ginny sat up and looked around. She was lying in the middle of the Hogwarts grounds, not that far from the school.

Standing up, Ginny looked down at the Death Eater robes she wore and felt a strange feeling of indignation.

_The Death Eaters thought I was one of them, and they still left me!_

Ginny snorted at that strange thought. In reality Ginny was very glad to be waking up here rather than in the middle of the Death Eater's camp.

A second rumble and the sound of an explosion from the direction of the gates caused Ginny to freeze. _I need to get back into the school!_ She realised in alarm.

Springing into action, Ginny pulled down the hood of the Death Eater robes and removed the mask, so that she wouldn't be mistaken for a Death Eater. Then, checking that the stolen wand was still in her pocket, she started sprinting in the direction of the school.

Deciding not to approach the doors directly, Ginny ran to the nearest wall and approached the doors stealthily, desperately hoping that she could avoid being shot at by her friends, _yet again.  
_  
By some miracle, Ginny managed to reach the large doors to the school without anyone seeing her, but, unsurprisingly, the doors were closed, so Ginny pounded on them as hard as she possibly could.

No one answered.

"Let me in!" Ginny shouted. "I'm a friend!"

For a second nothing happened, then a voice drifted through the door.

"State your name!"

"It's Ginny Weasley!" Ginny shouted back.

Once again silence fell, and then the doors began to move causing Ginny to breath a sigh of relief. They were going to let her in!

However, the doors only opened a small distance, just barely enough for one person to fit through. Ginny walked quickly towards the gap but, as soon as she reached it, she found a wand pointed right at her face.

"Tonks!" She exclaimed happily.

"Tell me something!" Tonks snapped angrily. "Tell me something to prove you're really Ginny Weasley!"

Ginny balked for a second. They didn't believe it was really her! What could she say... what could she tell Tonks?

When it occurred to her, Ginny almost laughed out loud. It was so simple! She leaned forward to whisper in Tonk's ear.

As soon as she moved, someone shouted from behind Tonks. "Stay right where you are!"

Ginny sighed in exasperation. "Relax will you!" Ginny snapped, holding out her hands. "I don't even have a wand in my hand!"

When no one raised any further objections, Ginny leaned over and whispered in Tonk's ear. "Harry Potter is really Adam Winters."

Almost immediately, Ginny felt herself being grabbed and pulled inside the Entrance Hall.

"It's her!" Tonks exclaimed. "Close the door!"

Once she was inside the door, Tonks dragged her off to one side.

"Ginny, I'm so glad to see you!" Tonks said happily. "I'd heard a rumour that something horrible had happened to you!"

"I'm fine, Tonks!" Ginny replied hastily. "Have you seen Adam? How are you ... oh, how's the baby? What are you doing here?"

"Calm down, Ginny," Tonks replied with a laugh. "I haven't seen him, but he is around. McGonagall is running the show and she basically told us to leave him alone and let him get on with whatever he's doing!"

_Finding Horcruxes hopefully!_

"I need to find him!" Ginny exclaimed.

"I know," Tonks replied simply. "Go, we'll be fine here."

"T-Tonks..." Ginny hesitated.

"Go on, Ginny, I'm fine, the baby's with my mother, but I..." Tonks paused. "After what they did to Remus. I had to come."

"But Tonks!" Ginny protested. _What would happen to the baby if something happened to Tonks?_

"Ginny!" Tonks snapped. "I know what I'm doing!" She paused, her expression softening as she rummaged the pocket of her robes. "Now take this picture and show it to Adam when you see him."

She passed Ginny a picture of the _cutest_ baby. The small boy was being bounced up and down on Tonks' lap.

"Oh!" Ginny gushed. Then she shook herself. "I'll get this to Adam!"

"Thanks, Ginny," Tonks said. "His name is Teddy, after my dad. Now go find him and be safe, yeah?"

Ginny nodded, gave Tonks a quick hug and dashed up the grand staircase. She went as far as the first floor landing before she realised she had no idea where Adam actually was.

Pausing to think, Ginny tried to put herself into Adam's shoes. _Okay, he'd find the Horcruxes then he'd try to destroy them. To destroy them he'd need to get a Basilisk fang. The Chamber of Secrets!_ She realised with a jolt.

Now knowing exactly where she was heading, Ginny set of towards the second floor girls' bathroom. However, as she left the landing, the sound of an explosion from below caused Ginny to pause, but, she reasoned, there were enough people down there. She had to help Adam find and destroy the Horcruxes!

When Ginny burst into the girls' bathroom, she immediately saw she was too late. The Chamber was already open.

Staring at the hole that led down in the chamber, Ginny hesitated and then, plucking up all of her courage. She stepped gingerly forward.

"Drop your wand and turn around slowly. Now."

**Adam  
February 25th 1998**

"_Open_," Adam hissed in Parseltongue and he watched as the entrance to the chamber slowly revealed itself.

Stepping forward slowly, Adam approached the hole in the floor, but, just as he was about to leap down into the pipe, a sound caused him to pause.

It was the sound of an explosion. Adam glanced down at his watch. It had passed midnight. Voldemort was coming. Then, as he was listening he became aware of a second sound, someone was running down the corridor.

_Could Death Eaters be in the school already?_

Taking no chances, Adam backed away from entrance to the chamber and stood against the wall of the bathroom. He would be ready to ambush anyone that stormed in.

The door flew open and someone dashed in. Someone wearing large black robes, but with long red hair. _Red hair!_ Adam cried silently. _Oh ... Ginny_.

"Drop your wand and turn around slowly. Now." He ordered.

The person froze, turned slowly to face him and Adam found himself staring at... Ginny.

_Oh, Merlin!_ Adam thought. _She's beautiful. Oh... Ginny._

Then, the implications of what was happening suddenly became clear to Adam. Someone was trying to fool him by masquerading as his dead girlfriend.

"What do you want?" Adam snapped at the impostor and pointed his wand at her.

"A-Adam..." Fake-Ginny replied. "It's me... Ginny."

"HOW DARE YOU!" Adam roared, storming forward and pointing his wand right at her forehead. "Ginny is dead! You..." he said with derision gesturing to the robes that the fake-Ginny wore. "Death Eaters killed her."

Suddenly, the eyes of the impostor took on a very Ginny like blaze and, for the first time Adam doubted his first reaction. He felt a small flame of hope kindle within him._ Could he have been wrong? Could Ginny have somehow come back from the dead? But that was impossible, good things simply didn't happen to him._

"Adam," the girl said, taking a step closer to him. "It is me..."

At her proximity, Adam felt his heart lurch.

"I..." Ginny continued, appearing to be nearly in tears herself. "I came back as soon as I could..."

"P-P-Prove," Adam stammered. "Prove you're Ginny."

Ginny smiled and Adam felt the flame of hope within him burn slightly brighter. She stepped forward and paused. "You're not ticklish, except for one spot on your back. I think I'm the only one that knows that. We found it one time when we were cuddling."

The flame inside Adam suddenly burst into a roaring fire, and he dropped his wand to the floor. At the same moment, Ginny flung herself forward and the two of them crashed against each other. Before he quite knew what was happening, Adam was kissing her and his heart soared. He could feel that it was Ginny.

Ginny was alive and Adam felt like he was at the top of the world.

"Ginny, I love you," Adam cried. "I missed you so much. I thought you were dead and I ... I didn't want to go on, but I had to..." he rambled on. "Oh... I love you so much."

"I love you, too," Ginny gushed. "When..." she stammered. "When the Dementor nearly got me... I...I thought of you."

They pressed their lips back together, and time seemed to blur as Adam simply savoured the physical contact between the two of them.

"Adam..." Ginny eventually prompted.

Adam suddenly realised he had been simply holding Ginny and grinning stupidly, completely oblivious to the world around him.

"The Horcruxes..." Ginny questioned. "When I came into the school they were getting ready for an attack. What do we need to do?"

"I...I have all of them," Adam replied, pulling the locket, cup and diadem out of his robes. "I just need to get down into the Chamber to get a fang."

At this, Ginny grinned and drew a basilisk fang out of her robes.

Adam stared at her in awe. "You're amazing."

Ginny grinned. "I know. Now let's get these Horcruxes destroyed."

They arrayed the three Horcruxes on the floor and Adam could see Ginny staring with hatred at the locket. He could understand why, it had caused so much pain between them.

"Can?" Ginny questioned. "Can I?"

Adam nodded, and Ginny raised her arm, paused briefly and drove the fang down into the locket.

Once the fang impacted with the locket, a loud ear-splitting scream filled the air, causing Adam to shield his ears. When the noise finally stopped, Adam turned back and saw Ginny sitting over the ruined locket with a look of triumph on her face.

"Brilliant," Adam praised. "You want to do the next one or shall I?"

"I..." Ginny began, suddenly sounding rattled. " Let's do them together."

The next two Horcruxes went down easier than the first and, as the two of them packed away the remains of the objects, Ginny withdrew something else from her pocket and passed it to him.

"Is..." Adam began. "That's the ring that Dumbledore and I went to get that night... how?"

"Snape had it on his desk," Ginny replied simply.

Adam turned the ring of in his hand, before putting it safely in his pocket.

"Erm, Ginny," Adam commented, once they were finally ready to go. "Why are you wearing that stuff?"

Ginny laughed. "Had to hide out as a Death Eater, didn't I? I was with the other Death Eaters in the fight by the Room of Requirement. I was trying desperately not to hit you."

Adam stared at Ginny, suddenly feeling horrified. He had been just so angry with the Death Eaters and the though that he might had inadvertently hurt the person he loved most in the whole world was just horrifying.

"Hey," Ginny said gently, obviously figuring him out yet again. "Don't worry about it, we can talk about it later, but now, we have a job to do."

"Right," Adam said, shaking himself. When he thought that Ginny was dead he'd focused on nothing but bringing Voldemort down, but now that he knew that Ginny was alive... part of him wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and run away with her, run far away. But Adam knew that Voldemort would still find them, not to mention that Adam would never abandon those who were fighting here at the school. "So... we need to find the snake, then Voldemort can die."

Ginny nodded. "I heard Snape tell the rest of the Death Eaters to get back to the Shrieking Shack."

"That could be where Voldemort is then..." Adam mused. "We can go through under the willow."

"Great minds think alike," Ginny replied with a grin.

All Adam could do was sigh happily. Ginny was back and it was brilliant.

The two of them charged out of the room and back down through the school, but, before they'd even reached the landing, a series of spells forced Adam and Ginny against a wall.

"Those spells are coming form the ground floor!" Ginny exclaimed.

"They're inside already?" Adam asked in alarm.

Ginny shrugged in response, and lay down on her stomach and began to edge forward.

"Stay there!" She called urgently. "I'm going to try and see what's happening."

Once Ginny had reached the edge of the landing, she peered over the edge.

"There's loads of Order members down there," she said from her position on the floor, and then she gasped. "My brothers are there, too! They've blocked the door with tables from the Great Hall, but the Death Eaters have already smashed the door itself."

Adam paused for a second, while Ginny wriggled back from the landing, trying to decide what to do.

"We need to decide if we're going to join the fight or try and avoid everyone to get to Voldemort."

Adam didn't hesitate, before replying. "We have to get to Voldemort."

Ginny hesitated for a second, and Adam realised that she wanted to go and help her brothers.

"If..." he began. "If you want..."

"No!" Ginny snapped before he'd even finished. "We do this together. My brothers can look after themselves... let's head down another staircase, and we may be able to out of the courtyard entrance relatively unnoticed."

Adam nodded, and, with the decision made, the two of them ran through the school, which, much to their relief, still seemed to be free from Death Eaters.

Finally, they reached the staircase that led down to the ground floor and the courtyard entrance but, just as they began descending the stairs, they heard the sound of spell-fire from below them.

Readying their wands, Adam and Ginny advanced but then, without warning, an ear splitting boom echoed through the corridor.

At the sound of the explosion, Adam grabbed Ginny and the two of them dropped to the floor, with Adam instinctively shielding Ginny's body with his own. Adam felt a hot wave of air blast over them and he pointed his wand, just in time to feel a cascade of stones and dust pelt them repeatedly.

When the dust had finally settled, Adam found himself lying sprawled on the floor. Half of his body was twisted over Ginny's, and he had his wand pointed in front of him. Adam looked at Ginny and noticed she had several small cuts on her face, along with a rather nasty looking one just above her left eye.

As he watched her, Adam noticed that she was staring forwards, in the direction her wand was pointing, with a look of shock on her face. Turning his head, Adam felt his mouth drop. Floating mere feet in front of them was a giant slab of stone, apparently suspended in midair by the combined power of his and Ginny's magic.

Staring at the giant slab that would surely have crushed both of them, Adam turned back to Ginny and their eyes met.

"Ah..." Ginny began. "That... that was close."

Adam could only nod numbly in response.

"S-S-Shall..." Ginny questioned. "Shall we just let it drop?"

Adam nodded, and he hesitantly moved his wand so it wasn't pointing at the slab of stone. Not quite knowing exactly how he'd stopped it, he wasn't quite sure how to let it drop. Once he'd moved his wand, it seemed to wobble. Then, Ginny moved her wand and it dropped to the floor with a crash.

Helping each other to their feet, Adam and Ginny squeezed their way past the rubble and continued down the stairs, but they only managed to get a few steps before more rubble forced them to stop.

"I can just about see the bottom of the stairs!" Ginny called as she clambered on the stones and peered through a gap.

"What can you see?"

"I think I can see the corridor, there's only a few steps to go, but there seems to be more rubble down there," Ginny began. "Hang on! I think I can squeeze through."

"No! Ginny, wait!" Adam cried, but it was too late. Ginny had already begun wiggling her way through the gap and soon her midsection and, finally, her legs disappeared. "Ginny?" Adam called again. "Ginny?"

"I'm here!" Ginny called back her voice sounding distant. "Adam! There are people trapped in the rubble down here! I have to try and help them!"

Adam dashed forward to the hole the Ginny had disappeared through. As he looked through, he could see Ginny levitating rocks from a large mountain of rubble at the bottom of the stairs and, for a second, he contemplated trying to squeeze his way through the hole after her.

_Nope,_ Adam realised as he sized himself against the hole._ I may only be a couple of inches taller than her, but I'm wider at the shoulders._

Realising that he would have to clear the rubble, Adam began levitating the rocks away from the hole until it was wide enough for him to crawl through.

Pulling himself out of the other end, Adam bounded down the last couple of steps to join Ginny.

"You took your time," Ginny commented, as she dragged a rock out of the way to reveal...yet more rocks.

"Well," Adam quipped. "One of the reasons I love you is you're so good at crawling through small holes."

Ginny giggled in response as Adam joined in lifting rocks away from the mountain with her.

They worked for nearly ten minutes, making no noticeable impact on the mass of stone. However, just as Adam was beginning to think they would never reach the people that Ginny had heard underneath the rubble, the pile of debris to Adam's left, nearest the stairs they had come down, expoded revealing a hole.

"Who's there?" A voice called, and Adam immediately realised it was Professor McGonagall.

"Professor McGonagall!" Adam called in response. "It's me!"

"A-A... Mr. Potter!" She called. "What are you doing?"

"We were... we saw the explosion and," he paused. "I think there's someone trapped under here."

There was silence for a second. "Fred, George and Percy Weasley were defending this corridor," she replied.

"My..." Ginny said in a faint voice. She had suddenly gone very pale. "My... brothers? FRED, GEORGE, PERCY! ARE YOU THERE IT'S GINNY!" she shouted in a desperate sounding voice.

"Ginny?" Professor McGonagall's voice came back through the hole. "It is good to hear your voice. I can hear faint voices from this side can you?"

When the professor stopped talking, Adam listened carefully and, to his surprise, he found he could hear faint voices.

"I can," Adam added, quickly crossing the room to Ginny and putting his arm around her. "They'll be alright, Ginny."

"A-..Harry is correct, Ginny," Professor McGonagall continued. "If I'm correct, there is an entrance to a classroom beneath the rubble and the classroom is more or less intact. I will take care of it," she paused. "There are things, Harry...things that you need to do. Let me get the Weasleys out."

"But..." Ginny stammered. "Professor..."

"Miss Weasley," Professor McGonagall replied. "They are wizards, and an explosion and a wall collapse is survivable. So, please, go with Adam. I'm sure he'll need you."

Adam watched as Ginny stared at the ruined stairs for a second.

"What do you want to do?" Adam asked softly.

Ginny hesitated for a second, before replying. "She's right. I need to stick with you. Let's go."

"Thanks, Professor!" Adam called in response and, giving Ginny a tug, they dashed down the corridor in the other direction, noticing for the first time the sprawled bodies of two Death Eaters which lay on the floor.

As they passed, Ginny quickly checked the two Death Eaters.

"One's dead," She commented. "This one is alive! _Incarcerous_."

Once the Death Eater was restrained, Adam and Ginny pelted down the corridor and out into the school grounds. As they barged out of the door, they ran head first into another group of Death Eaters.

"_Stupefy!_" Adam and Ginny screamed in unison, sending two of the Death Eaters to the ground, before they could utter a spell.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" The third cried, forcing Ginny to dive out of the way.

"_Stupefy_!" Adam shouted, sending a Stunner back towards their attacker.

In response, the man spun slightly and quickly conjured a shield, blocking Adam's spell, but, almost simultaneously, another spell hit him from behind and he crumpled to the floor.

"Phew," Ginny commented, from her position on the floor.

"That was you?" Adam questioned, as he stared at the Death Eater.

"Yep," Ginny replied, clambering back to her feet. "I think he forgot about me, but we need to start being more careful."

"Come one, let's get going," Adam said, once Ginny was up and ready to go.

"Adam," Ginny began. "Now that Hogwarts is under attack, how do we know that Voldemort isn't in the school looking for you?"

"I..." Adam hesitated, suddenly realising that Ginny was correct. Now that the attack was underway, they could be wandering around blindly for all he knew!

If only there was someway to know where Voldemort was! He needed to know what Voldemort was doing right now!

As he stood there, his vision blurred and Ginny swam out of focus. Suddenly he was looking not only at Ginny and the outside of Hogwarts, but also the inside a room. A room he recognised. As he looked at the dilapidated state of the room, he could vaguely see Ginny's lips moving. She was speaking to him!

"Adam!" Ginny cried, shaking him slightly. "Adam!"

Suddenly snapping out of it, Adam stumbled.

"Whoa!" Ginny exclaimed, catching him and holding him upright. "What was that? You just totally spaced out."

"I..." Adam stammered, his vision now having returned to normal. "I think I just wished myself into Voldemort's head."

"What?" Ginny exclaimed.

Adam shook himself. "He's in the shack, but it was like I was here and there at the same time."

"Well," Ginny added weakly, "at least we know where he is now."

"Exactly," Adam commented. "But I don't know for how long and we don't have time to keep getting caught up in battles."

They bound the Death Eaters and, pulling Adam's Invisibility Cloak over the two of them they continued across the grounds towards the Whomping Willow.

"Look," Ginny exclaimed as they dashed across the grass, moving as quickly as possible under the cloak.

Adam glanced over at where Ginny was pointing. The main door of the school seemed to have been destroyed and Adam could clearly see bright flashes from within.

"They're in the school," Adam commented numbly, suddenly shivering. "And... is that a giant!"

"I've no idea," Ginny said softly, her voice quavering and she too seemed to be shivering. "All... all my family is in there, I feel like I should be, too. But you've got the most important job."

"We've got the most important job," Adam corrected. "I can't do it without you. Let's keep moving."

Adam and Ginny set off again across the grounds, but, before they'd even managed to get another ten paces, Adam realised that the cold he was feeling wasn't just the cool night temperature.

"There are Dementors nearby," he said, in a shaky voice.

"Oh," Ginny shuddered, sounding equally horrified. "Keep going! See if we can slip past them."

They continued on, now running as fast as possible, and, just as the Whomping Willow came into view, black figures began to melt out of the dark in front of them.

Adam froze as he saw the Dementors, his heart constricting painfully as the image of Ginny being kissed ran through his head again and again and again.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Ginny roared, but it seemed distant, far off, unable to push through his mental image of Ginny being kissed.

Every fibre of his being was screaming at him._ Protect Ginny! Take her away! Get her out of here! You can't let it happen again!_ But he knew he couldn't. He had to defeat Voldemort.

"Ex...Expecto Patronum!" Adam cried, trying to break the cycle of terror that the Dementors seemed to have inflicted upon him.

Nothing happened.

"Adam!" Ginny shrieked. "I could do with some help."

Ginny's plea finally shook Adam out of his stupor. He stared in amazement at the single Patronus that was currently facing off against the Dementors. It... it was like his... except without the giant antlers.

At the sight of the Patronus Adam felt a renewed strength fill him and he cried out. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

His stag shot out of the end of his wand and charged to the aid of the other deer.

"My...my Patronus changed," Ginny said, and Adam was surprised to find that her face, which was illuminated in the light of the Patronuses, was tinged with a blush.

With their Patronuses clearing a way for them, Adam and Ginny charged towards the Whomping Willow and, while Adam continued to direct his Patronus, Ginny disarmed the tree with a well placed levitated stone.

As the Patronuses, Adam and Ginny reached the tree, the Dementors scattered and the bone chilling cold finally began to disappear.

"Finally," Adam panted, as they approached the hole that led down into the tunnel. "I _hate_ Dementors."

"Me, too," Ginny said. "And I think I have a unique perspective."

"When this is all over you're going to tell me the full story... wait!" he exclaimed. "What are the Patronuses doing?"

Ginny spun around, stared for a second and then burst out in laughter.

Adam quickly turned to look and shook his head at the ludicrous sight of what could only be described as two Patronuses nuzzling each other. Then, giving them a last look, he climbed down into the hole that led towards the Shrieking Shack with Ginny quickly following him.

"Whoa," Ginny exclaimed. "I've grown."

Now having to virtually crawl, the two of them rapidly made their way down the tunnel towards the Shrieking Shack. Finally, the tunnel began to slope upward and Adam saw a sliver of light ahead. Pausing for a second to make sure the cloak obscured him, Adam continued up the tunnel.

"Stay as close to me as you can," he whispered to Ginny, who was crawling along behind him. "Hopefully, the cloak will cover both of us."

Finally, when he felt like he'd been crawling for hours, he heard voices coming from the room directly ahead of them, only slightly muffled by the fact that the opening at the end of the tunnel had been blocked up by what looked like an old crate. Hardly daring to breathe, Adam edged right up to the opening and peered through a tiny gap left between crate and wall.

The room beyond was dimly lit, but he could see Nagini, swirling and coiling like a serpent underwater, safe in a strange starry sphere, which floated unsupported in midair. He could see the edge of a table, and a long-fingered white hand toying with a wand.

Then Snape spoke, and Adam's heart lurched: Snape was inches away from where he was hidden.

"… my Lord, their resistance is crumbling -"

"- and it is doing so without your help," said Voldemort in his high, clear voice. "Skilled wizard though you are, Severus, I do not think you will make much difference now. We are almost there … almost."

"Let me find the boy. Let me bring you Potter. I know I can find him, my Lord. Please."

Snape strode past the gap, and Adam drew back a little, keeping his eyes fixed upon Nagini. He didn't know what that sphere did, but he guessed it was some sort of protection. Should he chance everything and just cast a spell at it? No, it probably wouldn't work and he'd give away his position in the process.

Voldemort stood up. Adam could see him now, he could see the red eyes, the flattened, serpentine face, the pallor of him gleaming slightly in the semidarkness.

"I have a problem, Severus," said Voldemort softly.

"My Lord?" said Snape.

Voldemort raised his wand, holding it as delicately and precisely as a conductor's baton. "I am in need of a new wand, Severus."

"My - my Lord?" said Snape blankly. "I do not understand. Malfoy's wand failed you, what use will yet another be?"

"That is indeed a very good question, Severus."

Snape did not speak and Adam could not see his face. He wondered whether Snape sensed danger and was trying to find the right words to reassure his master.

Voldemort started to move around the room and Adam lost sight of him for a second as he prowled, speaking in that same measured voice, while pain and fury mounted in Adam.

"I have thought long and hard, Severus, I even reviewed the memory of our last meeting. Do you know why I have called you back from the battle?"

"No, my Lord, but I beg you will let me return. Let me find Potter."

"You sound like Lucius. Neither of you understands Potter as I do. He does not need finding. Potter will come to me. I know his weakness, you see, his one great flaw. He will hate watching the others struck down around him, knowing that it is for him that it happens. He will want to stop it at any cost. He will come."

"But my Lord, he might be killed accidentally by one other than yourself —"

"My instructions to my Death Eaters have been perfectly clear. Capture Potter. Kill his friends — the more, the better — but do not kill him.

"But it is of you that I wished to speak, Severus, not Harry Potter. You have been very valuable to me. Very valuable."

"My Lord knows I seek only to serve him. But - let me go and find the boy, my Lord. Let me bring him to you. I know I can —"

"I have told you, no!" said Voldemort, and Adam caught the glint of red in his eyes as he turned again, and the swishing of his cloak was like the slithering of a snake, and he felt Voldemort's impatience in his burning scar. "My concern at the moment, Severus, is what will happen when I finally meet the boy!"

"My Lord, there can be no question, surely ?"

"- but there is a question, Severus. There is."

Voldemort halted, and Adam could see him plainly again as he slid his wand through his white fingers, staring at Snape.

"Why did both the wands I have used fail when directed at Harry Potter?"

"I — I cannot answer that, my Lord."

"Can't you?"

The stab of rage felt like a spike driven through Adam's head and he forced his own fist into his mouth to stop himself from crying out in pain.

"My wand of yew did everything of which I asked it, Severus, except to kill Harry Potter. It failed. Ollivander told me under torture of the twin cores, told me to take another's wand. I did so, but Lucius's wand shattered upon meeting Potter's."

"I — I have no explanation, my Lord."

Snape was not looking at Voldemort now. His dark eyes were still fixed upon the coiling serpent in its protective sphere.

"I have been seeking a new wand, Severus. The Elder Wand, the Wand of Destiny, the Deathstick. It seemed to have dissapeared, but I have found it at last."

And now Snape looked at Voldemort, and Snape's face was like a death mask. It was marble white and so still that when he spoke, it was a shock to see that anyone lived behind the blank eyes.

"My Lord - let me go to the boy -"

"All this long night, when I am on the brink of victory, I have sat here," said Voldemort, his voice barely louder than a whisper, "wondering, wondering, what became of the Elder Wand once Dumbledore fell."

"My lord," Snape continued, his voice very faint. "Dumbledore's wand is the Elder Wand?"

"Perhaps you did not know? Ahh, Severus. You have been a good and faithful servant, and I regret what must happen."

"My Lord —"

"The Elder Wand belongs to the wizard who killed its last owner. You killed Albus Dumbledore. Admittedly on my order, but you killed him never the less. While you live, Severus, the Elder Wand will be yours."

"My Lord!" Snape protested, raising his wand. "You could have the wand gladly!"

"It does not work that way," said Voldemort. "I must master the wand, Severus. Master the wand, and I master Potter at last."

And Voldemort swiped the air with his wand. It did nothing to Snape, who, for a split second, seemed to think he had been reprieved, but then Voldemort's intention became clear. The snake's cage was rolling through the air, and before Snape could do anything more than yell, it had encased him, head and shoulders, and Voldemort spoke in Parseltongue.

"_Kill_."

At the sound of the Parseltongue, Adam heard Ginny inhale sharply behind him, and, for a second, he wondered if she might have given them away but it wasn't so, as a terrible scream quickly drowned out all other noise.

Adam saw Snape's face losing the little colour it had left; it whitened as his black eyes widened, as the snake's fangs pierced his neck, as he failed to push the enchanted cage off himself, as his knees gave way and he fell to the floor.

"I regret it," said Voldemort coldly, bending down and removing Dumbledore's wand from Snape's now limp hand.

Voldemort turned away. There was no sadness in him, no remorse. He pointed his new wand at the starry cage holding the snake, which drifted upward, off Snape, who fell sideways onto the floor, blood gushing from the wounds in his neck. Then, without a backwards look, Voldemort swept from the room, and the great serpent floated after him in its huge protective sphere.

"Adam!" breathed Ginny behind him. "What's going on?"

"He's killed Snape!" Adam gasped, and, once he was satisfied that Voldemort was gone and Snape was no threat, he pulled himself up into the room.

Adam approached Snape. He did not know why he was doing it, why he was approaching the dying man. He did not know what he felt as he saw Snape's white face, and the fingers trying to staunch the bloody wound at his neck.

Adam took off the Invisibility Cloak and, silently passing it to Ginny, he looked down upon the man he hated, the man who had framed him for Dumbledore's death. A small cynical part of Adam wondered why he didn't feel gleeful at this man's cruel death, but he didn't. He felt nothing.

Snape's eyes seemed to focus on him as he approached and he tried to speak. Adam bent over him, and Snape seized the front of his robes and pulled him close.

A terrible rasping, gurgling noise issued from Snape's throat.

"Take … it. … Take … it. …"

Something more than blood was leaking from Snape. Silvery blue, neither gas nor liquid, it gushed from his mouth and his ears and his eyes, and Adam knew what it was.

"It's a memory!" Adam cried. "We need to put it in a jar or something!"

Suddenly feeling Ginny at his side, he saw her rummaging in the pockets of her Death Eater robes. She pulled out a vial filled with a horrible-looking liquid. She emptied it onto the floor and rinsed it out with her wand, before passing it to Adam.

Adam carefully lifted the silvery substance into it with his wand. When the flask was full to the brim and Snape looked as though there was no blood left in him, his grip on Adam's robes slackened.

"Look … at … me. …" he whispered.

Adam looked into Snape's eyes, but after a second, something in the depths of the dark pair seemed to vanish, leaving them fixed, blank, and empty. The hand holding him thudded to the floor, and Snape moved no more.

Adam remained kneeling at Snape's side, simply staring down at him, until quite suddenly a high, cold voice spoke so close to them that Adam jumped to his feet, the flask gripped tightly in his hand, thinking that Voldemort had re-entered the room.

Voldemort's voice reverberated from the walls and floor, and Adam realized that he was talking to Hogwarts and to all the surrounding area so that the residents of Hogsmeade and all those still fighting in the castle would hear him as clearly as if he stood beside them, his breath on the back of their necks, a deathblow away.

"You have fought valiantly," said the high, cold voice, "Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery.

"Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.

"Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately.

"You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.

"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."


	19. Chapter 18

**Adam  
February 25th 1998**

"Adam..." Ginny began as they made their way tiredly back across the grass towards the main gates of the school. "You're not thinking of giving yourself up to him are you?"

"No," Adam replied, squeezing Ginny's hand. "I'll have to face him at some point, but not until the snake is gone. I'm not going to charge off to my death."

"I..." Ginny began. "I don't want to lose you."

Adam wanted to promise her that she wouldn't loose him, but he couldn't. It was, he realised grimly, entirely possible that he might die.

"I don't want to lose you either," he replied softly as they continued walking cautiously back towards the school, keeping watch for any remaining Death Eaters that had not obeyed Voldemort's orders to retreat.

As they reached the castle and entered through the doors, it seemed unnaturally quiet.

"Where..." Adam asked hesitantly. "Where is everyone?"

In response, Ginny grabbed his hand and pulled Adam towards the Great Hall. However, once they reached the doors, Ginny froze and gasped.

Adam could only stare in horror, crowds of people were gathered in the hall, and, in the middle of the hall, lay a row of bodies.

"Oh... no," he murmured.

He was shaken suddenly by Ginny letting out a harrowing wail. She then dashed at breakneck speed across the hall, towards where the Weasley family were gathered... around what appeared to be someone's body.

_Oh... no._

Adam suddenly felt sick to his stomach and he took off across the hall towards the Weasleys. _Please,_ he silently pleaded with himself. _Let them all be alright._

By the time he reached them, the family were all clustered around Ginny, who was being hugged fiercely by her parents. As he approached, he saw Ron give him the strangest look, a mix of joy and anger. Adam immediately understood his reaction, he'd told Ron that Ginny was dead... and he must have told the family that too.

Adam stood awkwardly just outside of the Weasley family group, not knowing quite what do to, or what to say.

Suddenly, he felt an arm around his shoulder and Adam looked up to see Mr Weasley standing at his side. As he stared at the man, Adam realised, from the way he was looking at him, that Mr Weasley _knew_.

"M-Mr..." Adam stammered, feeling his cheeks fill with shame. "Mr. Weasley..."

Mr Weasley didn't respond, but instead he silently pulled him towards the rest of the Weasleys.

"You..." Ron began, as soon as he saw him. "You told me..."

"I..." Adam faltered, not quite knowing what to say. "I thought... but she wasn't..."

"How?" Ron enquired, and Adam wasn't quite sure if he was still angry or not, but, before he could answer, someone else grabbed him.

"Oh!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed, pulling him into a crushing hug. "You're okay!" She cried. "You're both okay!"

"Mrs. Weasley," Adam began, finding it a struggle to speak.

"Oh!" Mrs Weasley repeated, pushing him away slightly. "Let me look at you!"

Adam stared uncertainly at Mrs Weasley as she just seemed to stare at him for several long seconds.

"It is you..." she said softly, her voice quavering. "You've grown! I'm so glad you're alright, Adam," she paused. "When no one had seen you, we thought..." She choked back a sob. "We thought we'd lost you too... and then... and then Ron told us that you were Harry and then we thought that Ginny..." Mrs Weasley rambled. "I'm just so glad you're both okay... we've already lost Fred and I was just so _scared _that we'd lost the two of you too."

At Mrs Weasleys words Adam felt his insides lurch. "Fred?" he gasped, feeling completely hollow inside.

"He...he..." Mr Weasley stammered. "He was hit by falling debris. Percy and George were with him... they were lucky to escape..."

Adam found that he couldn't speak. He just felt so guilty.

"We..." Ginny said, suddenly appearing at his side. "We could have helped them."

Adam could only nod numbly in response.

"Oh... _Fred_!" Ginny sobbed and Adam pulled her into a hug, resting his forehead against her hair.

The Weasley family and Adam stood there in silence for several minutes. They all stared numbly at where Fred's body lay covered by a sheet. None of them seemed capable of speech.

"Harry...err... Adam," Mr Weasley spoke after what felt like an eternity. "Why... why didn't you tell us?"

Adam stared at him. As he thought back over the previous years, he tried to rationalise why he hadn't wanted to tell the Weasley's.

_First it was because Dumbledore told me not to. _Adam thought._ Then I feared they would treat me differently once they knew. I thought they'd blame me for the attack on the Burrow. The things that had happened to them because I'm really Harry Potter_.

But now that he thought about, those reasons all sounded really stupid.

"I..." Adam began and then he looked away, realising that he had no answer for Mr Weasley. "I'm sorry."

"It was all Dumbledore," Ginny spoke up suddenly in his defence. "He hid who Adam was from him for two years, and then when he finally told Adam... it was so hard to tell anyone."

"I..." Adam began. "I-I was afraid you..." Adam stammered looking to Ginny for help.

"Adam was afraid you'd treat him differently," Ginny supplied.

"We wouldn't have!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed. "It must have been a terrible shock to you."

"I... I know you wouldn't have," Adam replied, hanging his head. "As time went on it just got harder and harder to tell you..."

An awkward silence once again descended over the group.

"H-Harry," Bill spoke up eventually. "What are you going do about You-Know-Who's deadline? You're not going to give yourself up are you?"

"No, he's not!" Ginny snapped, suddenly disentangling herself from Adam's arms and turning to face him.

Their eyes met, and Adam felt his mind whirring. He knew he wouldn't just give himself up, but it might be a good way to get close to Nagini... but first, he needed to view Snape's memories. He had given them to him for a reason and Adam needed to know what that reason was.

"No..." Adam began, his mind still wiring as he tried to puzzle out how he could kill Voldemort's snake. "I'm not going to just give myself up."

He paused, glancing at each of the Weasleys in turn.

"Ron.." Adam began uncertainly, finally realising who was missing. "Where's Hermione?"

Ron's face suddenly paled. "She's with Madam Pomfrey. She got hit by a Cutting Curse, I ..." he hesitated, suddenly looking guilty. "I said I'd only be a minute and then I'd be back!" He rambled. "I need to go and check on her, I was only going to come and see mum but..." he trailed off.

"I'm sure she'll understand," Ginny added softly.

"Ron," Adam said seriously. "Look after her, yeah? I think you should go check on her."

Ron nodded. "I will," he shook his head. "I shouldn't have left her...Adam, Ginny will you come? I know she'd like to see you."

Adam paused, his gaze settling on Ginny. "No, you go with him, Ginny. I need to ...there's something I need to do... I'll be back soon."

With that, before any of them could say anything else, Adam turned and strode quickly back across the Great Hall. As he walked away he heard Mrs Weasley shout his name, but he ignored it. It would be too tempting to just stay with the Weasleys. He had a job to do.

However, even before he had left the hall, he felt a tug on his back and he turned to face an angry looking Ginny.

"You weren't going to wait for me?" She snapped.

Adam paused for a second, before replying. "I..." he hesitated. "I thought you'd stay with your family... They need you."

"They may need me, but what about you?" Ginny replied, still sounding angry. "Oh, Adam. You are far too selfless sometimes. You always think of others but never yourself. My family have each other, but who do you have?"

Adam hesitated. "You?"

"Damn right!" Ginny said, her anger seemingly draining away. "You're the most important person in the world to me and you should never think that I'd choose not to be with you. I love you."

"I love you, too," Adam said softly, taking Ginny's hand. "I'm sorry."

At this Ginny spontaneously leaned forward and kissed him, taking him by surprise and making Adam's head spin momentarily.

"Now," she said with a grin. "Those memories?"

"Yeah," Adam replied, heading at a quick pace out of the Great Hall. "I was going to try to use the Pensieve in Dumbledore's office."

Ginny nodded in response. "I was also thinking that Voldemort's deadline. Might be a chance for us to try and get close enough to kill the Snake."

"I was thinking the same," Adam replied, as they began climbing the Marble Staircase. "But let's see what Snape's memories tell us first. We still have just over half an hour by my reckoning."

As Adam and Ginny moved quickly towards the Headmaster's office, they found the castle completely empty, even the ghosts seemed to have disappeared. Even so, they ran without stopping, Adam still clutching the flask of Snape's last thoughts.

When they reached the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the office, Ginny gave the password that she'd heard Snape use earlier that evening which, much to Adam's surprise, hadn't been changed and the gargoyle slid aside.

Adam charged up the stairs and burst into the circular office. Entering the room he paused and looked around, he couldn't remember the last time he'd been in this office. It brought back so many memories... Dumbledore telling him about his identity... Dumbledore telling him about the Horcruxes and the final confrontation between Dumbledore and the minister, before he was removed from Hogwarts.

However, now, unlike the previous times he'd been in the office, the portraits that hung all around the walls were empty. Not a single headmaster or headmistress remained, all, it seemed, had dashed away, desperate to have a clear view of what was going on.

Looking around the room, Adam saw that the stone Pensieve lay in the cabinet where it had always been. Adam heaved it onto the desk and poured Snape's memories into the wide basin with its runic markings around the edge.

"What do we do with it?" Ginny questioned.

"We just dive in," Adam said softly, looking down at the Pensieve. Inside the bowl, the memories swirled, silver white and strange. Without hesitating, Adam dived in, pulling Ginny along with him.

They fell headlong into sunlight, and Adam's feet found warm ground. When he straightened up, he saw that they were in a nearly deserted playground. A single huge chimney dominated the distant skyline. Two girls were swinging backward and forward, and a skinny boy was watching them from behind a clump of bushes. His black hair was overlong and his clothes were so mismatched that it looked deliberate. His jeans were too short, he wore a shabby, overlarge coat that might have belonged to a grown man and an odd smocklike shirt.

Adam, with Ginny following him, moved closer to the boy.

"That's..." she said with amazement. "That's Snape!"

Adam realised suddenly that she was right... Snape looked no more than nine or ten years old, sallow, small, stringy. There was undisguised greed in his thin face as he watched the younger of the two girls swinging higher and higher than her sister.

Adam turned his attention back to the two girls, just in time to see one of them leap off the swing at the very height of its arc and fly into the air. The girl flew skyward with a great shout of laughter, and instead of crumpling on the playground asphalt, she soared through the air, staying up far too long, landing far too lightly.

"Mummy told you not to!" The other girl snapped, stopping her swing and leaping up, hands on hips. "Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!"

"Lily!" Ginny gasped. "Adam... could that be your mum? Is that why Snape left this memory?"

"I think so!" Adam said, a sense of strange excitement filling him. "She's got red hair like I remember!"

"But I'm fine," said Lily, continued still giggling. "Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do."

The other girl, Tuney, glanced around and, once she had determined that the playground was deserted apart from themselves, she trotted over to her sister, who was standing very close to the bush where Snape was hiding.

Adam watched from across the playground as his mother demonstrated something to the other girl, causing her to shriek.

"It's not right," Tuney exclaimed. "How do you do it?" she added, and there was a definite sound of envy in her voice.

"She..." Ginny commented. "That other girl, Tuney, is scared of the magic your mum does."

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Snape suddenly spoke up, jumping out from behind the bushes. Tuney shrieked again and ran backward toward the swings, but Lily, though clearly startled, remained where she was. Snape seemed to regret his appearance. A dull flush of colour mounted the sallow cheeks as he looked at Lily.

"What's obvious?" asked Lily.

Snape had an air of nervous excitement. With a glance at the distant Petunia, now hovering beside the swings, he lowered his voice and said, "I know what you are."

"What do you mean?"

"You're … you're a witch," whispered Snape.

She looked affronted.

"That's not a very nice thing to say to somebody!"

She turned, nose in the air, and marched off towards the other girl.

"This must be before she had her Hogwarts letter!" Adam said excitedly. "Mum was a Muggle-born, Snape must have known her before she came to Hogwarts!"

"It..." Ginny began hesitantly. "It's amazing to see her. She's so pretty."

"No!" cried Snape, who had charged after the other girl. He was highly coloured now, and Adam wondered why he did not take off the ridiculously large coat, unless it was because he did not want to reveal the strange clothes beneath it. He flapped after the girls, looking ludicrously like his older self.

The two girls considered him, united in disapproval, both holding onto one of the swing poles.

"You are," said Snape to Lily. "You are a witch. I've been watching you for a while. But there's nothing wrong with that. My mum's one, and I'm a wizard."

"Wizard!" Tuney shrieked, her courage seemingly returned. "I know who you are. You're that Snape boy! They live down Spinner's End by the river," she told Lily, and it was evident from her tone that she considered the address to mean something bad. "Why have you been spying on us?"

"Haven't been spying," said Snape, hot, uncomfortable and dirty-haired in the bright sunlight. "Wouldn't spy on you, anyway," he added spitefully. "You're a Muggle."

Though Tuney evidently did not understand the word, she could hardly mistake the tone.

"Lily, come on, we're leaving!" she said shrilly.

Lily obeyed her at once, glaring at Snape as she left. He stood watching them as they marched through the playground gate, and Adam recognized disappointment in Snape's expression. Snape had apparently been planning this moment for a while, and that it had all gone wrong.

"So..." Adam began. "Tuney must be my aunt. I guess. I wonder what happened to her... no one ever told me I had an aunt."

"Oh, Adam," Ginny said, giving his hand another squeeze. "I hope you don't mind me saying but she didn't sound very nice!"

Adam was about to respond, when suddenly the scene dissolved, and before he knew it, it had re-formed around them. Adam now found himself standing on platform nine and three-quarters, and Snape stood beside him, slightly hunched, next to a thin, sallow-faced, sour-looking woman who greatly resembled him. Snape was staring at a family of four a short distance away. The two girls stood a little apart from their parents. Lily seemed to be pleading with her sister and Adam and Ginny moved closer to listen.

"… I'm sorry, Petunia! I'm sorry! Listen -" She caught her sister's hand and held tight to it, even though Petunia tried to pull it away. "Maybe once I'm there - no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!"

"I don't - want - to - go!" said Petunia, and she dragged her hand back out of her sister's grasp. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a - a -"

Her pale eyes roved over the platform, over the cats mewling in their owners' arms, over the owls fluttering and hooting at each other in cages, over the students, some already in their long black robes, loading trunks onto the scarlet steam engine or else greeting one another with glad cries after a summer apart.

"- you think I want to be a - a freak?"

Lily's eyes filled with tears as Petunia succeeded in tugging her hand away.

"I'm not a freak," said Lily. "That's a horrible thing to say."

"That's where you're going," said Petunia with relish. "A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy … weirdoes, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety."

At this proclamation Ginny gasped. "What! That's a horrible thing to say!"

Lily meanwhile had glanced toward her parents, who were looking around the platform with an air of wholehearted enjoyment, drinking in the scene. Then she looked back at her sister, and her voice was low and fierce.

"You didn't think it was such a freak's school when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you."

Petunia turned scarlet.

"Beg? I didn't beg!"

"I saw his reply. It was very kind."

"You shouldn't have read -" whispered Petunia, "that was my private - how could you - ?"

Lily gave herself away by half-glancing toward where Snape stood nearby. Petunia gasped.

"That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking in my room!"

"No - not sneaking -" Now Lily was on the defensive. "Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn't believe a Muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that's all! He says there must be wizards working undercover in the postal service who take care of -"

"Apparently wizards poke their noses in everywhere!" said Petunia, now as pale as she had been flushed. "Freak!" she spat at her sister, and she stormed off to where her parents stood.

"How..." Ginny stammered.

"It must be hard," Adam mused. "To have your sister be a witch and know that you can never be part of their world."

"It's still no excuse for behaving like that!" Ginny replied, but her voice wasn't harsh. "She should be happy for her sister. If I was a Squib, I'd still love my..." At this Ginny gasped, and Adam guessed her thoughts had turned back to Fred, "my brothers..." She trailed of in a weak voice.

The scene changed again, and Adam now found himself amongst a crowd of Hogwarts students that were waiting in a stone room.

"Adam!" Ginny cried, pointing into the crowd. "There's your mum and Snape!"

Adam started to make his way over to his mum, but suddenly something else caught his eye.

He saw his father. He was slight and black-haired like Snape, but with that indefinable air of having been well-cared-for, even adored, that Snape so conspicuously lacked. Slowly, ever so slowly, Adam approached the boy who would grow up into his dad and, standing in front of him, he drank in the sight of him. Then, with a jolt, Adam recognised the two people standing next to his dad. Remus and Sirius.

Suddenly, his dad took off across the room, working his way through the gathered children and soon reaching where Ginny was standing by his mother and Snape.

"Evans," James said, running his fingers through his hair. "What house do you want to be in then? You never did tell me on the train."

"She'll be in Slytherin!" Snape responded in an angry tone.

"No way!" Ginny exclaimed. "You're mum was a Gryffindor through and through just like us!"

Adam watched as his dad's expression momentarily fell, before he plastered a smile back onto his face.

"'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Is the only house for me!" James exclaimed. "Trust me, Evans, you don't want to be in Slytherin."

"You already said that on train, Potter," Lily replied. "And, I haven't decided what house I want to be in yet," she continued shooting a look at Snape.

"See that, Snivellus!" James crowed. "She won't be in Slytherin with you snakes!"

"I didn't say that!" Lily exclaimed in a huff. "Arghh, I hate boys!"

With that Lily stormed off across the room, leaving his father and Snape to sneer at each other.

Before either of them had a chance to insult the other further, Professor McGonagall spoke up from the entrance to the room. "They are now ready. Please follow me into the Great Hall."

Adam and Ginny followed them into the Great Hall and they soon stood facing the candlelit House tables.

Then, time in the memory seemed to swirl, and, before he knew it, Professor McGonagall called, "Evans, Lily!"

He watched his mother walk forward on trembling legs towards where Professor McGonagall was waiting with the Sorting Hat.

"And this is where it all started going wrong for Snape..." Ginny muttered.

Then the scene changed, and it seemed to Adam as if the students around them were growing older as the years began to pass in a blur of images. Suddenly, the shifting stopped and Adam now found himself standing in the Entrance Hall.

At first glance, the room itself seemed to be deserted but then Adam saw Snape. He now looked about Adam's age, possibly a bit younger and he seemed to be lurking just outside the doors, as if he was waiting for someone. Almost as soon as they'd arrived, students started pouring out of the doors and heading off in various directions, presumably back to their common rooms.

Snape seemed to be scanning the crowed of students, and, when he saw a head of auburn hair appear, he dashed off across the room.

"Lily!" He called. "Lily!"

Adam and Ginny took off at a run and soon caught up with his mother.

"Your mum," Ginny exclaimed. "She's about my age I think."

Adam nodded enthusiastically, he loved seeing his parents, even if it was a bit weird when they appeared to be younger than he was.

"I wonder if dad's around anywhere?" Adam mused to himself.

Meanwhile, Lily had paused and glanced over her shoulder but, when she saw that it was Snape, she quickened her pace. She was obviously trying to avoid him.

Snape broke out into a run and chased after her, eventually catching up to her about half way back to Gryffindor tower.

"Lily!" He shouted, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"What?" Lily snapped, spinning around and fixing him with a glare. "I don't want to talk to you!"

"Lily! I'm sorry!" Snape pleaded. "I never meant to call you a Mudblood. I don't want this to come between us!"

"Severus," Lily snapped, then suddenly her expression changed to that of sadness.

"We've been drifting apart ever since you were sorted into Slytherin."

"We can't be friends just because I'm in a different house?" Snape exclaimed.

"No, Severus," Lily replied. "We can't be friends because you_ chose_ to be friends with people who you know are bad. You_ chose_ to join in when they practice dark magic! You chose to call me a Mudblood!"

"I didn't!" Snape pleaded.

"Well then," Lily said huffing slightly. "You choose to call every single person with Muggle parents other than me Mudblood! Why I am different?"

Snape's mouth opened and closed as he searched for words.

"But... Potter," he stammered. "It was only because of him..."

"Potter did not force you to call me a Mudblood, Severus. He may be conceited and a bully, but he does not practice dark magic, he does not target people just because of who their parents are!"

"You're defending him!"

"No..." Lily said with a sigh. "I'm not... Potter may be a prat, but, Severus, your friends and are much, much worse and I'm," she hesitated. "I'm afraid that you're becoming like them."  
"No!" Snape protested. "Lily! Please!"

"I'm sorry, Severus," Lily said. "Our friendship is over. This had been coming for a while and when... when you called me that today. It finally made up my mind."

"Lily..."

"Goodbye," she said, and turned and continued quickly towards Gryffindor tower, leaving Snape standing in the corridor.

Suddenly, Snape seemed to realise that his and Lily's confrontation had drawn a small crowd. So, emitting a angry snarl, he spun around and charged back down the corridor.

As he stormed off, the scene began to morph once more and time seemed to swirl. Adam and Ginny now found themselves outside of Gryffindor tower. It was now nighttime and Lily, who was wearing a dressing gown, was standing with her arms folded in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"It's too late," Lily snapped angrily at Snape. "I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends - you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"

He opened his mouth, but closed it without speaking.

"I can't pretend anymore. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine."

"No - listen, I didn't mean -"

"- to call me Mudblood? So you say. But you still call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?"

He struggled on the verge of speech, but with a contemptuous look she turned and climbed back through the portrait hole.

"Good on her!" Ginny exclaimed.

Adam nodded in response, but what his mother had said had unsettled him. _Why did Mum think Dad was a bully? Was he? Could my dad really have been a bully in school?_

The corridor dissolved, and the scene now took a little longer to reform. It seemed to Adam as if he now was flying through shifting shapes and colours until his surroundings solidified again and Adam stood in Dumbledore's office. Coming to his senses, Adam realised that something was making a terrible sound, like a wounded animal. Snape was slumped forward in a chair and Dumbledore was standing over him, looking grim. After a moment or two, he raised his head, and Adam saw the harrowed face of the now adult Snape.

"I thought … you were going to keep her … safe…" Snape cried mournfully, but then he continued his voice took an accusing tone. "You said you would protect her! You promised!"

"Do not lay the blame for this at my feet, Severus," Dumbledore replied, his voice devoid of emotion. "Need I remind you that it was you that chose to deliver what you knew of the Prophecy to Lord Voldemort's ears."

"I..." Snape voice grew weaker. "I didn't know he'd target Lily..."

At that moment something clicked into place in Adam's mind. Snape. Snape had told Voldemort about the Prophecy. Snape was the reason Voldemort had targeted his parents. He felt a brief, all encompassing fury consume him, but he tried to bottle it down. Snape had shown him these memories for a reason. He didn't want to miss something due to his anger.

Dumbledore sighed heavily. "As it happens, she and James put their faith in the wrong person," said Dumbledore. "Just like you had faith that Voldemort would spare her."

Snape's breathing was shallow and for a while neither of them spoke.

"Do you..." Snape began. "Do you know how..."

Dumbledore paused, and it looked to Adam as if he was weighing up two different options.

"The boy..." Dumbledore said eventually. "Harry. Somehow in the process of attempting to eliminate the threat described in the Prophecy, the Dark Lord inadvertently caused its fulfilment."

"But how?" Snape queried once again.

"You are aware there were two possible boys meeting the criteria for the Prophecy."

Snape looked confused for a second. "As soon as the Dark Lord heard of Prophecy, he retreated to his chambers for several days. He then returned and proclaimed in front of all the Death Eaters that once the Potter child was killed his victory would be certain."

Dumbledore nodded. "Thus, in a sense, marking Harry and then, somehow, they destroyed each other."

"So the Dark Lord is gone?" Snape asked faintly.

Dumbledore paused for what felt like an age before questioning. "He never showed any interest in any other boy?"

Snape shook his head.

"Then, I believe he is gone..." Dumbledore's voice grew faint. "The Prophecy has been fulfilled. It is just a shame it came at such cost..."

"Cost!" Snape roared, suddenly leaping out of his seat. "Lily is gone and you talk about cost!"

"And yet you feel no remorse for the loss of James and Harry?" Dumbledore responded coolly.

Snape snarled at this, but did not say anything.

"Can..." he asked and suddenly it seemed like he was pleading. "Can I see her... one last time?"

At this Dumbledore sighed heavily. "There was a large explosion, destroying the child's nursery. It obliterated everything in the room..." At this Dumbledore's face twisted in a strange express. "What was left of Lily... is not pleasant."

Snape sagged back down into the chair, and put his head in his hands and, if Adam didn't know better, he would almost say that Snape was in tears.

"What..." he spoke after a pause. "What of me?"

"Severus," Dumbledore replied, he voice changing, almost like a parent talking to a child. "You must go on. Although your efforts to save them were for naught, that you tried leads me to believe there is hope for you. I find it ironic that you delivering that Prophecy to the Dark Lord set in motion events leading to his downfall," Dumbledore paused, as if deep in thought. "I will attempt to speak on your behalf to the Ministry. What happens from there will remain to be seen."

As Dumbledore was speaking, his voice began to grow fainter, the office seemed to shimmer and Adam found himself and Ginny once again standing in the Headmaster's office with Dumbledore and Snape. The only visible difference is that both were noticeably older.

"You are fortunate, Dumbledore!" Snape snarled. "As I understand it he bypassed all but the last defence of the Stone! If you had listened to my warnings!"

"We had no way to know that Quirrell would turn against us," Dumbledore replied calmly. "How could I know that he had desires on immortality?"

"I warned you!" Snape snapped. "I told you he had changed. He had this..." Snape paused. "Familiarity about him. This is more than just a rogue professor."

"Severus," Dumbledore replied. "What else do you think it could it be?"

"I don't know, Headmaster," Snape replied. "But I have noticed that you have grown lax. Since the fall of the Dark Lord you have made yourself blind to the darkness that remains in this world."

Both men were silent.

"Severus, I had hoped that when Tom was defeated I would not see another Dark Wizard in my lifetime." Dumbledore paused. "You are wrong about Quirrell, if a more sinister force was involved then I would know...but perhaps you are right that I have grown lax in my old age. I will be more cautious from now on."

Once more the scene changed and Adam now found himself in Snape's dungeon. Snape was alone, working at the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom.

"Your last classes of the year finished, Severus?"

Adam glanced across the room, and saw Dumbledore standing at the far end of the classroom, next to the desk where he and Ginny always sat.

"Yes, Headmaster," Snape replied, and, from the look of him, Adam thought that this memory must be within the last few years.

"Severus," Dumbledore continued, walking up towards the desk where Snape was sat. "Can I examine your Mark?"

"Again?" Snape questioned. "This is the third time this year." He rolled up his sleeve.

"Still faded..." Dumbledore mused, as he examined Snape's arm where his Dark Mark was located.

"Yes," Snape replied, sounding exasperated. "It is the same as it was the day after the Dark Lord fell," he paused. "Now, as I do every time you check my mark, I'll ask you, why?"

Dumbledore seemed to hesitated.

Then, after nearly a minute's pause, he spoke. "Harry Potter is alive."

"What!" Snape almost shouted.

"He survived," Dumbledore said simply.

"But... how?"

"Peter Pettigrew took him from the house and ... hid him."

"Hid him?" Snape questioned, seemingly baffled. "For all these years?"

"Hidden would probably be the wrong word. Disguised and then lost would be more accurate," Professor Dumbledore almost seemed to chuckle. "In fact, he's just finished his third year."

Snape paused, and Adam assumed he was mentally checking off all the boys in his year.

"Winters..." Snape muttered with a groan.

"Exactly," Dumbledore responded.

"Minerva's little pet." Snape almost sneered. "And he's been hiding it from us for all these years?"

"Actually, Severus," Dumbledore replied calmly, "until a few days ago he didn't even know he was Harry Potter."

Snape was silent for several seconds.

"And is Potter's miraculous re-appearance the reason you have been so paranoid of late?"

Dumbledore hesitated for a moment before speaking. "If Harry's survival becomes public knowledge, he could be a target for retribution."

Snape paused for a second before continuing with. "And?"

"This revelation has also led me to reconsider many things that have occurred over the last few years; Tom's downfall, Quirrell and the opening of The Chamber of Secrets," Dumbledore hesitated. "I believe that it is possible for the Dark Lord to return."

At this Snape seemed to visibly tense. Then, he spoke again. "Will you enlighten me, Albus?"

Dumbledore sighed. "I realise now that I was blind to the possibility of Voldemort's survival. When Harry was believed dead, admitting that Voldemort could have survived would mean admitting he had managed to destroy the one Prophesied to destroy him... it would also mean that I had _lost_. In my mind, I could not accept that. I masterminded the fight against Tom and it was unthinkable at the time that I had failed."

"Then what convinced you otherwise?" Snape queried, in a voice completely devoid of emotion, as if in shock.

"When I realised Harry was not dead. I began retracing my steps and I found evidence that leads me to believe that Tom had been experimenting with ways to defeat death itself. This has led me to the conclusion that the prophecy has not yet been fulfilled."

"This could also shed new light on Quirrell's actions, which is what I believe I told you several years ago!"

"Indeed you did, Severus, and I must apologise for not believing you. For now, I have instructed the boy to keep his identity hidden. This must go no further. In the coming months, if and when Tom returns, I will have some hard decisions to make."

"Who else knows?"

"Other than the two of us and Harry; Remus Lupin and Sirius Black."

"Black!" Snape spat. "So the rumours that you helped him avoid capture by the Ministry are true, then?"

"They are, Severus, and I expect you to keep my confidences in these matters, as you always have."

Snape grunted but did not answer.

"Severus?" Dumbledore prompted, his voice sharp.

"Yes, Headmaster," Snape replied. "I will keep your secrets."

"Good," Dumbledore replied, his voice returning to its normal tone. "I also ask you to look out for the boy, as much as you are able to without attracting attention."

Adam saw Snape's face twist into a sneer, but, before Adam could hear what he was about to say, the scene twisted and Adam suddenly found Ginny clinging onto him as everything began to spin around them.

When the memory reformed, Adam momentarily didn't know where they were. It seemed as if they were following Snape down a corridor. Then, as Snape approached a door, pushed it open, and stepped into another room. Adam instantly knew where they were.

"St Mungo's!" Ginny gasped. "Oh... Adam! Look, it's you!"

They had entered what had been his hospital room in St Mungo's. As his eyes roamed the room, Adam saw himself lying in the bed, apparently asleep.

As Snape entered the room, Dumbledore rose from his seat and greeted him.

"Thank you for coming, Severus," Dumbledore spoke.

Snape paused for a second, his eyes seemingly glued to Adam in the bed.

"The boy will make a full recovery, but he will sleep for at least a few more hours," Dumbledore continued. "He does look awfully like his father, doesn't he? But he has his mother's eyes."

"I..." Snape began hesitantly. "I am aware of that. Do not mock me."

"I apologise, that was not my intent."

Snape did not respond to Dumbledore's apology. Instead he stated blankly, "I was summoned last night."

"I am assuming the Dark Lord was not harmed in the altercation, then?"

"He was unhurt, although some of the Death Eaters present were injured."

"Good," Dumbledore stated. "This whole situation is a result of my misjudgement in not telling him as soon as I was sure of his identity and refusing to tell him about the Prophecy. The impostor, Crouch, told Adam everything he wanted to hear, using our estrangement to his advantage."

"The boy is reckless and impulsive, just like his father. The blame lies with him," Snape growled.

"No." Dumbledore stated firmly. "The blame lies with me. My attitude towards Harry must change."

The two of them stood in silence, while his past self slept in the bed.

"The Dark Lord has doubts about my loyalty," Snape suddenly stated.

"What?" Dumbledore snapped, his attention now fully on Snape. "Why?"

"He is not convinced, due to the fact it is currently summer and there are no students, that I have a valid reason for not answering his summons the night of his resurrection," Snape paused. "So he has set me a test."

"A test?"

"Indeed," Snape replied. "I am to arrange for your death, and for Harry to be delivered into his hands. My skills are too valuable for him to kill outright, and I doubt he actually expects me to fulfil this task, but until I manage to prove my loyalty I will be watched and not privy to the Dark Lord's counsel."

Dumbledore paused. "I will think on this new development, Severus... but just so we are clear, the Dark Lord must under no circumstances get his hands on Harry."

With those words, the scene changed once again and Adam found himself once more in the Headmaster's office.

"That boy," Snape exclaimed. "He is disruptive! Every bit as bad as his father!"

"Come now, Severus," Dumbledore replied calmly. "You have done nothing to endear yourself to him. He does not trust you."

"I don't want to him trust me," Snape replied flatly. "Why does everything always come down to this boy?"

"Indeed," continued Dumbledore. "And you know very well why everything comes down to Harry, Severus."

Snape snorted gruffly at this. "You place too much trust in this Prophecy."

"The amount of trust I place in the Prophecy is largely irrelevant. What is important is that Voldemort trusts it. However, in the meantime, we have a developing problem."

"What?"

"Harry has taken to hiding in his persona of Adam."

"That is hardly surprising," Snape responded. "He has been Winters longer than he's been Potter."

"But our world needs Harry Potter, not Adam Winters," Dumbledore responded. "I've tried to guide him, to give him a nudge to begin revealing himself to others, but he is resistant."

"And why are you telling me this?" Snape asked.

"I feel the time will come when we need to give him a push," Dumbledore continued. "We may even need to force him to reveal himself."

"That will further alienate him," Snape added.

"We may have no choice," Dumbledore replied grimly, as the scene once more began to fade.

The next scene flashed into existence in a sharp rush of sensation, just like the feeling of Disapparition.

Looking around, Adam didn't immediately realise the significance of where they were. Then he saw him. Ginny had obvious seen him at the same time, for she took off at a run towards the doors of the school.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Ginny cried, as she and Adam approached the crumpled form of the headmaster.

"I think I've just left him to find Snape and get the fang."

"But where's Snape?" Ginny asked.

"Headmaster!" A voice came from the shadows before Adam could answer, and suddenly Snape materialised from the dark.

"Severus," Dumbledore wheezed.

"Headmaster," Snape exclaimed again. "What..."

"No... time," Dumbledore gasped, coughing heavily. "A Curse..."

Adam watched as Snape examined the Headmaster.

"No..." Dumbledore wheezed. "Too late for me, Severus... Severus... Closer!"

Adam and Ginny crowded around and watched as Snape leaned down so he was close to Dumbledore's face.

"I... have been foolish...I have," Dumbledore continued, his voice barely audible above the wheezing sound coming from his throat as he struggled to breathe. "I have jeopardised everything," his voice trailed away.

"No, Albus... there must a way."

"There is..." Dumbledore said in an almighty gasp, bringing his wand up to his temple, and, in an almost exact duplication of Adam's earlier encounter with Snape, memories spilled out.

Snape, hurriedly conjuring a vial, gathered the memories into it.

"Albus, what are these?"

"Watch..." Dumbledore wheezed. "Severus, my wand..."

"Your wand?"

"Is yours now... my gift to you..." Dumbledore seemed to be growing weaker. "... magic... intent is everything..."

"Of course, Albus," Snape replied. "What... what can I do for you? Can I make you more comfortable?"

Dumbledore didn't answer for what seemed an eternity. Then, in a voice that was barely audible, he wheezed. "Harry... will return soon... the world needs Harry Potter," he paused, as if communicating these last words were a tremendous effort. "Our conversation Severus... use this... give him a ... push," the final word left him like air escaping from a balloon and Dumbledore lay still, apparently desperately struggling to get his breath with a horrifying rattle. "Go..." Dumbledore finally wheezed.

Snape was rising to his feet as the scene changed with a flash and Adam barely got his bearings before he found himself being pulled down into a Pensieve.

"We're in a Pensieve inside a Pensieve?" Ginny queried, sounding almost as baffled as Adam felt.

"I think so..." Adam mumbled in response.

Once they arrived in the memory Snape was viewing, Adam found himself, Ginny and Snape standing in the Headmasters office. As they orientated themselves, Adam saw Dumbledore standing up from behind his desk and walking purposefully into the centre of the room.

"Severus," Dumbledore began speaking. "I am recording this message as one of my memories, as I trust no other method to communicate this if, for some reason, I am unable to do so directly," Dumbledore paused for a few seconds. "I am entrusting this information to you to relay to Harry when the time is right. You must not tell him until the last moment, not until it is necessary, otherwise how could he have the strength to do what must be done?"

"Enough with the riddles, Albus!" Snape said softly.

Memory Dumbledore, of course, could not hear him and continued. "Severus. There will come a time when Lord Voldemort will seem to fear for the life of his snake. If there comes a time when Lord Voldemort stops sending that snake forth to do his bidding, but keeps it safe beside him under magical protection, then, I think, it will be safe to tell Harry."

Dumbledore took a deep breath and closed his eyes, almost as if he was dreading what he was about to say.

"You must tell Harry that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, his mother cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort's soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself onto the only living soul left in that collapsing building. Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is that which gives him the power of speech with snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort's mind that he has never understood. And while that fragment of soul, unmissed by Voldemort, remains attached to and protected by Harry, Lord Voldemort cannot die."

The room was silent and suddenly, the scene changed yet again.

"What..." Ginny stammered in a very small voice, now sounding terrified. "That doesn't mean that you... that you'll..."

Adam didn't answer; instead he was staring numbly at the new scene in front of him. Snape was standing in front of Dumbledore's portrait, speaking with the Headmaster's image.

He walked towards the portrait just in time to hear a few snippets of the conversation.

"Arthur Weasley and Minerva have left the order choosing to side with Winters..." Snape was informing the portrait.

"ADAM!" Ginny screamed from behind him, roughly pulling him around. "Please tell me what Dumbledore said doesn't mean what I think it does?" She pleaded.

Adam stared at her, seeing tears forming in her eyes.

Adam knew what it meant. He'd understood the minute Dumbledore had finished speaking, and he knew that Ginny knew too. _It's was unusually cruel_, Adam thought with a strange sort of detachment. _That if I'd been told I had to die when I still thought that Ginny was dead, then it perhaps wouldn't have been too hard, but now I have her back only to find out that we're going to ripped apart again._

Ginny had obviously seen from his expression that she was right and that in order to defeat Voldemort he would have to die. She flung herself at him, clinging onto him with all her strength.

"No!" she cried. "You can't! I won't let you!"

"Ginny..." Adam moaned, holding her tightly. "You heard him..."

"No!" Ginny insisted. "I won't let you. We'll run away. Far away! Just the two of us! Please, Adam, please!"

"Ginny..." Adam stammered. "I..."

Suddenly the mention of Ginny's name attracted his attention back to conversation between Snape and Dumbledore.

"As instructed, I planted the idea with Yaxley," Snape was saying. "That Ginny Weasley might be able to lead them to Potter."

"Adam!" Ginny cried again, demanding his attention. "Listen to me. You can't! Please, arghhh!" she broke off in a surprised shriek as the scene suddenly changed with a stomach-churning whirl and they were flung back out of the Pensieve.

Landing on his feet back in the headmaster's office, Adam stared numbly at Ginny who had lost her balance and landed on her back.

He almost couldn't bear to look at her; doing so reminded him of everything that he was about to lose, but what choice did he have? People had died for him, his parents, Remus, Sirius, Fred... could he now back out of making the same sacrifice and doom the world to live under Voldemort's control.

"Adam," Ginny cried, sounding near hysterical now. "Don't... please... I need you. I can't lose you!" She sobbed. "Adam!"

"Ginny," Adam pleaded, "I don't want to, but I have no choice."

"Then at least let me come with you!"

"NO!" Adam shouted. He couldn't let Ginny die for him.

"Ginny..." Adam began.

"Your time is up," Voldemort's high cold voice echoed through the office and Adam guessed he was speaking to the entire school again. "Harry Potter has not come forward. He has doomed you all to death," Voldemort paused. "However, I will be merciful. Whoever brings me Harry Potter, alive and unharmed, will be spared."

"Ginny," Adam said, desperation now overtaking him. "I have to go... I need you to kill the Snake. Please!"

"No!" Ginny screamed, suddenly flinging herself at him. "I won't let you! I won't let you!"

"Ginny!" Adam practically screamed, as he held tightly onto her. "I need you to be safe! Please!"

"NO!" Ginny shrieked, fighting to keep her arms around him. "You can't die! You can't! Please..."

The two of them fought against each other; Ginny desperately trying to keep hold of him, while Adam struggled to escape her grip. As he stood there struggling with her, a single though crystallised in his mind; he had to die so that Ginny and everyone else in the wizarding world could live. It was a simple as that ... except that Ginny would never let him go. She wouldn't leave him.

In that moment, a new determination filled Adam. He couldn't let Ginny come with him. He was the one who had to die, not her. He had to make sure that she was safe.

So, steeling himself, Adam firmly pushed Ginny away. His sudden burst of strength took her by surprise, and she fell backwards onto the floor of Dumbledore's office with a cry

Ginny lay on the floor, her face streaked with tears, but then, as Adam watched, he saw a flash of something in her eyes and he knew that Ginny wasn't going to let him go without a fight.

"_Incarcerous!_" Adam cried, as Ginny leapt back to her feet.

The conjured ropes bound her instantly, sending Ginny crashing back to the floor.

"Adam!" Ginny screamed, thrashing around on the floor, trying desperately to break free of the ropes. "LET ME OUT! YOU DON'T HAVE TO! YOU CAN'T!"

"Ginny," he said softly, taking a step towards Ginny but stopping short of touching her when he saw the fury burning in her eyes. "I'm sorry...I love you."

Upon hearing his words, Ginny expression dissolved into one of complete devastation. It broke Adam's heart. But what choice did he have?

"Adam..." Ginny pleaded. "Let me come with you... Please..."

Trying desperately to keep control, Adam took one last longing look at her, before turning dashing out of the room with Ginny's screams following him.


	20. Chapter 19

**Adam  
February 25th 1998**

Adam dashed away from the Headmaster's office in a desperate run. He had to get away from Ginny. If he didn't, his resolve wouldn't hold and he... he wouldn't be able to do it.

Adam continued to run, trying to keep his thoughts away from what was going to happen. He had to take things one step at a time. First step: get outside without anyone stopping him.

But, when Adam reached for his cloak, it wasn't there. _Where is it?_ Adam panicked. _Oh Merlin, what did I do with it?_

Ginny... Adam realised suddenly. _I gave it to Ginny._

Coming to this realisation, Adam froze, debating for a second whether he should go back and get the cloak.

_I can't..._ he realised. _I don't know hold long my spell will last. If I go back to Ginny, I don't know if I'll be able to leave her again._

So, Adam continued down the stairs trying to avoid being seen, but, when he came in earshot of the Entrance Hall he heard noise. There was a loud crowd of people gathered there and Adam realised he'd never be able to sneak past all of them.

Pausing on the second floor, Adam pondered his options for a second before dashing down the smaller staircase that he and Ginny had used what felt like days ago.

He dashed past the rock fall that had so nearly killed the two of them, down onto the ground floor and, eventually, he came to a small door that led out onto the grounds. Since he had last been here the door had been repaired and barricaded.

Adam grabbed his wand and began levitating away the two large boulders that had been used to seal the doorway. Once they had been removed, Adam paused, staring at the small wooden doorway. All of a sudden, he found himself overcome with fear. Stepping outside the door would mean leaving Hogwarts for the last time. It seemed like an insignificant step; so why was he so afraid?

Adam unlocked the door with his wand, reached out towards the door handle and hesitated once again.

"Come on..." he muttered. "You have to do this," he sighed. "You can do this."

But he knew he was lying to himself. He couldn't do this. How could he just walk to his death? How could he leave Ginny behind?

_She'll be okay._ Adam tried to reassure himself. _Once the Horcrux in me is gone, Voldemort can be defeated and Ginny can... she can go on...she can be happy_.

That thought didn't help either. Adam didn't want Ginny to be happy with someone else. He wanted her to be happy with him! It just wasn't fair!

Adam lent against a nearby wall, desperately trying to get himself under control. _Come on! Come on! Just do it, Adam! ARGHH!_ he cried out in frustration and anger.

The sound of his voice seemed to echo up and down the narrow corridor and Adam was sure, just for a second, that someone was coming. Could Ginny be coming to save him? Maybe he didn't have to die after all.

"_Lumos_!" Adam shouted, his spell lighting up the corridor.

No one was there, and, as Adam looked down the ruined corridor, he realised grimly that this was where had Fred died, but Adam could see no sign of the what had happened here. Fred had died here, but Adam could easily have walked past and never known.

Would people remember him when he died?

_Stop it!_ Adam scolded himself. He had to do this. In frustration he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked around, searching for the exact spot where Fred had died.

He sighed. _In all likeliness I'll be seeing Fred soon anyway._

As he stood there, he felt something in his pocket, and, withdrawing his hand, he saw the ring that had killed Dumbledore. Adam stared at it, absently turning the ring over his hands and running his fingers over the stone set within it.

"Harry..." A soft voice from drifted from behind him.

Adam spun around, quickly drawing his wand. Standing behind him was the figure of a woman. Pointing his wand at her, Adam took a step closer and squinted; trying to identify the woman. Meanwhile, she had also stepped forward and held out her arms. She looked familiar, very familiar.

"Harry..." She said softly.

Suddenly with a blaze of understanding Adam recognised her. He felt his arm falter, and his wand drop.

"Mum..?" He asked, feeling a sense of awe. Then, she stepped closer to him and Adam tensed, ready for it to be a trap.

His mother seemed to flinch at his defensiveness, but then her expression softened and she smiled widely, her eyes fixed upon him. "Oh... Harry. How I have longed to see you!"

Adam too stared, his eyes scanning over inch of her. She was obviously not alive, but yet she didn't seem like a ghost. It was almost as if she existed somewhere between the two.

Then there was another sound and Adam span around to see his dad standing just behind him.

"Dad..." Adam gasped in amazement, now finally lowering his wand. "What...how?"

"You..." Dad spoke. "You called us."

"I..." Adam stammered. "How?"

"I don't know," Dad replied. "But I'm glad you did. It's good to see you, son."

Adam was completely and utterly speechless. His knees felt week and it was all he could to do not to sink to the ground.

"I..." Adam tried to speak, as he stared alternately at his mum and dad.

"Harry," his mum spoke once more, gesturing behind him.

As Adam turned to look he choked out a sob. Standing on either side of the doorway, were Remus and Sirius.

"Sirius...Remus," Adam choked out.

"It's good to see you again, Adam," Sirius said, flashing him a grin.

"Hello, Adam," Remus added softly.

Adam swallowed deeply. "I... Remus.. Sirius," he began. "I never wanted you to die. Merlin, Remus, you never got to see your son."

"Adam," Remus replied and much to Adam's shock he was smiling. "I have seen him and although I'm sad I won't be a part of his life, my hope is that he will grow up in a world free of Voldemort and that is worth any sacrifice."

"Harry," His mother spoke again and Adam suddenly realised that Remus and Sirius had called him Adam, whereas his parents called him Harry. But was that actually important? "You've been so brave. We've been watching over you as best we can and we..." her voice cracked a little.

"We're very proud of you, son," dad continued. "Despite everything that's happened to you... how you've been treated," he paused, unable to hide the tone of fury from his voice. "You've grown into a fine man."

"T-T-Thanks," Adam stammered. He wasn't going to break down now. "I... I just wish that I didn't have to..." he trailed off. "...I don't want to leave her."

"I know, son," dad replied, stepping forward and Adam thought with a strange sense of anticipation that he was going to put his hand on his shoulder but, of course, his dad wasn't alive so he couldn't comfort him.

"Harry," Mum began softly, moving so she was standing at his side. "We'll stay with you."

Adam looked at his parents standing on either side of him and then at Remus and Sirius who were standing next to the doorway. He strode forward, grabbed the handle of the door and paused. Looking to his right, Adam made eye contact with his dad, who nodded at him encouragingly. So, giving his dad a firm nod in response, and pulled open the door and strode outside.

Walking with a renewed strength, having his parents and two friends at his side, Adam strode across the grounds of Hogwarts.

As he crossed the grass, Adam looked back at school. He could see that the majority of the lights in the school were now out, with the exception of those around the Great Hall and the main doors.

Then, in the stillness of the night, the sounds of voices suddenly echoed across the grounds and Adam tensed. Walking up the path towards the school, bold as brass, was a large crowd of cloaked figures. They were laughing and cheering, confident in their victory and, at their head, walked a figure that Adam knew only too well: Voldemort.

"This is it," Adam said, closing his eyes and clenching his fists. "This is it..."

"You're nearly there," his mum said. "We are so proud of you."

Adam took another few steps forward, before stopping once more. "What?" he questioned, turning to his companions. "What's it like?"

"It's quicker and easier than falling asleep," Sirius responded. "You can do this, Adam."

Adam closed his eyes again, took a deep breath, sighed and then set off across the grounds towards the Death Eaters.

"Someone approaches, my lord!" One of the Death Eaters called as Adam drew near and instantly the group of Death Eaters were silent.

"Kill them," Adam could hear Voldemort order.

"Voldemort," Adam called loudly. "It's me! Harry Potter. I've come as you've asked..."

"Stop!" Voldemort cried. "Potter is mine!"

A bright light shone into Adam's face, blinding him.

"Potter," Voldemort's voice echoed clearly across the grounds and Adam wondered briefly if it was being magically amplified. "Come closer. I want to see you. My Death Eaters will allow you to approach."

Adam started walking once again, slowly approaching the point on the path where Voldemort and his Death Eaters were standing, but, as he drew near, the light shone on him once again.

"Potter!" Voldemort announced. "Do you think Lord Voldemort is foolish enough to allow you to approach him with a wand? Perhaps you plan to make an attempt on my life?" he paused. "Hold out your wand, Potter."

Adam sighed and held out his wand, which immediately flew out of his grip, sailing through the air towards Voldemort as if it had been summoned.

"Now, Potter," Voldemort continued. "You may approach me."

Adam walked purposefully the final hundred or so paces towards his death. His parents and friends still standing at his side; Sirius and his father to his left, Remus and mum to his right._ I'm not going to come crawling!_ Adam silently vowed, doing his best to stand up straight and meet Voldemort's gaze.

As Adam drew close enough to the Death Eaters that he could recognise them, they began to jeer and shout.

"Look at him now!" Bellatrix Lestrange, who was standing at Voldemort's side, shrieked. "Look at the great Harry Potter!"

Then, Adam stopped walking and just stood there, letting the taunts wash over him. He just wanted it to be over.

"Silence," Voldemort spoke softly, and the Death Eaters obeyed him instantly.

Adam stood there, looking Voldemort in the eye, and for a fleeting second Adam wondered if he could make a deal with Voldemort so that he'd leave Ginny alone, but Adam knew that Voldemort would never keep such a deal and he'd no longer be in a position to make sure of it. _Oh... Ginny!_

_Just do it... please. I know I have to die, but please just end it._

"Harry Potter," Voldemort said very softly. "The Boy Who Lived."

Then, he raised his wand and sent a bolt of green light at Adam.

Green was all Adam could see, but soon enough green turned to black and Adam saw nothing more.

**Ginny  
February 25th 1998**

Ginny had long since given up on screaming. She knew that Adam wasn't coming back. Instead, she continued squirming against the ropes, desperately trying to break free, but having little success. They were only conjured ropes! How strong could they be?

As Ginny continued to struggle, she repeatedly glanced at the clock that rested on the mantelpiece._ Five minutes!_ Ginny realised. Adam had been gone for five minutes. He wouldn't even be out of the castle yet, but time was running out.

_I'm going to save you, Adam!_ Ginny silently promised herself. _Even if this time it's from yourself!_

Spurred on, Ginny continued to thrash around; fighting against the ropes and trying to reach her wand, which was stuck uselessly in her pocket. A minute ticked by and Ginny felt her despair growing, she tried to conjure an image of Adam's face in her mind to comfort her, but no such happy memory came. Instead, Ginny found herself unable to wrench her mind away from the horrendous probability that Adam would be killed.

_No!_ Ginny squeezed her eyes closed as she began to feel the trickle of tears down her face. There had to be another way! There just had to be!  
_  
How can I live without him?_ She despaired, her body sagging. _Our entire lives were centred on each other!_

_I can't live without him!_ Ginny realised and, with an almighty effort, she tensed her entire body, pushing with everything she had against the ropes. _Damn you, Adam!_ She raged, as she fought against the bonds that had ensnared her body._ I won't let you die!_

Then, suddenly, just when she thought that the ropes had beaten her, Ginny felt her arm move as the ropes began to fray and break.

Emitting a cry and triumph and relief, Ginny began furiously pulling the ropes off her body. As she worked, Ginny felt herself filling with anger. How dare Adam leave her alone up here while he went off to die to save the world! They did everything together, how could he leave her now?

_He wanted to make sure you were safe._ A little voice that sounded somewhat like Adam spoke from the back of her head.

_I don't want to be safe, though! I just want to be with Adam!_

It took Ginny valuable minutes to free her arms and legs and, by the time she was mobile again, Ginny saw that nine minutes had now passed.

Glancing at the clock one final time, Ginny pounded out of the Headmaster's office and down the stairs. As she ran, she felt her anger grow. In fact, she didn't think she had ever been so angry in her entire life.  
_  
How dare he leave me here!_ Ginny ranted to herself as she ran. _We could have figured it out! Together we could do anything... at least... at least then I could have been with him at the end. Damn him!_

As she passed the gargoyle, her anger turned to Dumbledore. Her mind conjured an image of Dumbledore sitting behind his desk, putting all the clues together: Parseltongue and the visions. Then he would decide not to tell Adam that his destiny was not to defeat Voldemort as he had previously thought, but to die. How could Dumbledore live with himself when he didn't even have the courage to tell Adam that death would be his ultimate fate?

Then she stopped, rooted to the spot in the middle of a deserted corridor, a new tendril of excitement forming within her.

She'd been able to understand Parseltongue, but in the tunnel on the way to the Shrieking Shack she hadn't been able to understand Voldemort when he'd spoken.

_I wrote it off because I was distracted... but what... what if it means something! I've always been able to understand Parseltongue... When was the last time I heard it before today?_ Ginny searched her memories desperately.

With a surge of inspiration, Ginny remembered. Godric's Hollow! She could understand Parseltongue then, so why not now?

The Dementor, she realised with horror, her mind involuntarily replaying those few terrible minutes.

_She felt pain unlike anything she had encountered before. It felt as if someone had placed a pair of hooks inside her body and was slowly dragging her insides towards her mouth._

_She felt herself fading as the two hooks, one now slightly in front of the other neared her head and, as the first one seemed to leave her body, she realised that this was it. She was going to die.  
_  
_Her eyes flew open and she saw a ball of green light floating into the Dementor's mouth causing the Dementor to emit a harrowing scream._

Sagging against a wall, Ginny tried to banish the horrible memories from her mind, but the memories had told her something. The Dementor had pulled two things from her. One was her soul, which had eventually made its way back to her body. The other had been...

But it wasn't the same. She, unlike Adam, had never had visions of Voldemort. Adam had pains in his scar. She didn't have any scars from her encounter with Voldemort... the Diary.

She didn't have any scars, but she did have phantom pains in her hand occasionally. They were often barely noticeable but could it be connected? Had she, like Adam, had a bit of Voldemort inside her?

She just didn't know.

With a start Ginny realised that it didn't matter if her case wasn't exactly the same as Adam's, it didn't matter if she wasn't sure. If Ginny had had something from the Diary inside her, and the Dementor had removed it, perhaps the same could happen to Adam and he could live!

She had to save him! And with single minded purpose Ginny ran. She pelted down through the levels of the school. She leapt down stairs three or four at a time. She pushed past Order members and students. They weren't important now.

All that was important was Adam. _Oh … Adam! Why didn't you trust me enough to let me come with you! Damn you! Damn you!_

Within minutes Ginny reached the Entrance Hall and, to her surprise, she found it crowded with people.

"Ginny!" she heard a voice shout.

Ignoring the voice, Ginny desperately scanned the crowd for Adam; there was no sign of him. Realising that he must already be outside… on his way to Voldemort, she dashed across the room, her eyes fixed on the large doors of the school.

_I won't let you die!_ Ginny promised. _I won't let you sacrifice yourself, not when there's another way._

But, before she could reach the doors, someone grabbed her.

"What!" Ginny spat, spinning around and coming face to face Ron and Hermione. "Oh…Ron, have you seen him? Have you seen Harry? Did he come though here? Where is he?"

"Ginny," Ron replied. "Calm down. Who?"

"Adam... Harry!" Ginny cried. "He came this way. I need to find him! I need to stop him!"

Ron and Hermione seemed to look at each other for a second before Ron replied. "Ginny," Ron paused. "We haven't seen him. What's going on? You-Know-Who's on his way! We've barricaded the door to try and hold him for as long as we can."

It was only then that Ginny paused to look around the room. She saw the terrified faces of the people in the room, including her brother, but her attention was soon drawn once again to the large doors. She knew that Adam had gone out of those doors to meet Voldemort. The stupid boy!

"I have to go after him!" Ginny exclaimed and, pushing her brother away, she sprung into action, quickly crossing the room. "I need to get out!" She cried, as she began searching for a way to open the doors. "Is anyone going to help me?"

"Ginny, no!" a voice cried, and Ginny found herself once more pulled forcibly away from her mission. "We can't open the door. He's on his way!"

"Tonks!" Ginny pleaded desperately, recognising her friend. "Adam's out there. I've got to get to him. Please!"

"Ginny..."

"Tonks..." Ginny pleaded. "I..." she froze, not quite knowing what do say. "I need to..."

Tonks seemed to hesitate. "Ginny..."

"Nymphadora Tonks!" A voice boomed from across the hall. "Do not open that door!"

Ginny narrowed her eyes and glared as Alastor Moody hobbled across the hall. "Weasley, I don't care what you have to do out there. I am not putting all these people at risk by removing the protections on that door!"

Ginny felt her shoulders sag, and she fought desperately with herself so that she didn't cry. She stared at Tonks pleadingly.

"Ginny," Tonks replied after a moment, taking her hand. "Come with me!"

Ginny allowed Tonks to pull her along as she led her up the stairs towards the first floor.

"I can't tolerate that man!" Tonks ranted. "Do you know he tried to send me home?

"What!" Ginny exclaimed.

"I know," Tonks said with a dismissive snort. "I know I have a baby, thank you very much! But I'm also a better fighter that half of them down there!"

"He's a git," Ginny commented as the two of them charged down a corridor into a windowed room that overlooked the school's entrance.

"Right," Tonks announced once they were in a position so that they could look out of a small narrow window onto the grounds below. "You can climb down from here."

Ginny looked out of the window, it did seem an awful long way down, but she could do this. She would do this, for Adam.

"Right," Ginny said, nodding firmly. "Let's go."

Tonks conjured a long coil of rope and threw it out the window. Then, gripping the rope, Ginny climbed onto the small window ledge.

"Tonks," Ginny began as she steadied herself on the rope. "Thanks."

Tonks grinned back at her. "Be safe, Ginny. I'll see you soon."

Ginny gripped onto the rope, trapping it firmly between her feet, and soon felt herself being lowered towards the ground.

It seemed to take an eternity, but, once her feet touched the ground, Ginny disentangled herself from the rope and sprinted down the path that led away from the school. She had no time for stealth. All that mattered was getting to Adam.

_I'm coming Adam! Just hold on…. Please hold on._

Before she'd run more than a hundred metres Ginny froze, hearing the sound of raucous laughter and cheering coming from just in front of her. Knowing that she'd be no use to Adam if she got herself captured or killed, Ginny slowed her pace and approached stealthily; crouching low and creeping along the side of the path.

The Death Eaters were gathered just out of sight of the school and, as Ginny approached, she quickly realised their attention was completely focused on another person who was standing between them and the school. It was Adam! Or at least she thought it was...he was currently facing away from her, she could barely make him out in the dark.

_I'm too late! _Ginny realised with horror. Adam had already given himself up to Voldemort's followers.

Overcome with a sudden desire to get closer to him, Ginny dropped to the floor and crawled along the side of the path until she was more or less in line with Adam. As she approached, she had to stifle a gasp of horror and grief. Voldemort himself was there, standing immediately opposite Adam, with Nagini still resting in her sphere by his side.

Then, before Ginny could do anything to save Adam, Voldemort raised his wand and sent a bolt of green light at Adam. Ginny leapt up, acting purely on instinct, but she was too slow, and all she could do was watch as the green bolt of light sailed through the air towards Adam.

The curse struck him before she'd even taken her first step. His limbs jerked for a split second and Ginny felt as if her entire body and soul had gone numb. She heard a harrowing wail fill the air, which she assumed was from herself. Then, just like Adam's life, her energy seemed to be sucked away.

She fell to the ground, and Adam fell with her. His body tumbled to the ground, his head striking the path and bouncing slightly, before his body finally settled in a heap on the ground. Ginny too hit the ground, landing on something that felt softer than it should. She lay there, tears streaming down her face, as she stared at the body of the love of her life lying in ruin on the path. Ginny thought that she could see, even through the darkness, that he had landed with his eyes open almost as if he was looking for her, even in death.

She heard a second cry join with hers, this one a cry of anger, blind fury mixed with pain, but it didn't seem to matter. Nothing seemed to matter anymore.

Eventually, sounds other than the two cries of grief and anger seemed to intrude into her awareness. Suddenly aware again of what was going on around her, Ginny's self-preservation instinct kicked in and she put her hand over her mouth, vainly trying to stifle the sobs that were escaping her.

"My Lord!" The voices of alarmed Death Eaters began shouting. "What has happened?"

"My Lord?" Another voice asked. "We heard someone else. What are your orders?"

Ginny finally tore her eyes away from Adam's body and she saw that Voldemort too had fallen to the ground. As she lay there watching, Ginny suddenly felt a new purpose settle over her, making her feel strangely calm. _I have to finish what Adam had started! I can't let him down now!_

She tried to climb back to her feet, but tripped and fell again. As she tried once more to stand, she felt what had caused her to trip. It was Adam's cloak! She'd taken it from him in the Shrieking Shack, what felt like a lifetime ago, and it had been in the pocket of the Death Eater's robes that she had been wearing ever since.

_The cloak was what I felt when I fell!_ Ginny realised suddenly. _I can use it to escape!_

As quietly as possible, Ginny took hold of the cloak and pulled it over herself. She'd barely gotten herself covered when Voldemort suddenly spoke.

"Find whoever made that noise and bring them to me!" he roared.

The Death Eaters seemed to freeze for a second before they scattered to search for her, leaving only a few people standing near Voldemort.

Ginny lay on the ground for several minutes, hoping against hope that the Death Eaters wouldn't stand on her. She desperately tried to keep completely still and silent, but then she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. On the floor next to her was a photograph, which had presumably fallen out of her pocket.

_Oh..._Ginny gasped, tears springing to her eyes once more. It was the photo of Teddy. Adam's godson. She'd forgotten she had it and forgotten to show it to him! It had completely slipped her mind that she had the photo in her pocket and now Adam would never get to see what his godson looked like.

As Ginny once more struggled for self-control, the Death Eaters continued to search. She watched angrily as a figure approached Adam's body. She tensed, ready to leap into action if they had the nerve to do anything to Adam, but the figure simply knelt down by his side, paused for what felt like hours, before rising and returning to Voldemort.

C_hecking that he's really dead?_ Ginny wondered. _Oh...Adam...why you?_

Eventually, the Death Eaters grouped back up less than ten metres from her and after conversing briefly they returned to Voldemort.

"My lord," one of the Death Eaters announced as the group approached the Dark Lord. "We found no one."

Voldemort was silent for a second, almost as if he was considering what to do next.

"Let us advance!" he cried loudly. "My loyal Death Eaters, let us show them that their saviour has fallen. Let us parade his body before them!"

With that, Voldemort raised his wand, and suddenly Adam's body rose up in the air and began to float. The Death Eaters began walking back towards the school with long, arrogant strides, as if their victory was now assured. Poor Adam floated along in front of them, his arms dragging on the ground as they hung limply at his side.

As she watched his body moving away from her, Ginny felt a new wave of grief sweep over her. She buried her face in the cold ground in desperation, hoping that her cries wouldn't give her away.

By the time she was able to get herself back under control, Ginny looked up to see that Voldemort and the Death Eaters had now all but disappeared into the darkness.

_Where had they taken Adam? What was Voldemort going to do to him? You stupid girl! Why didn't you follow them?_

Suddenly finding herself overcome with desperation to see Adam again, Ginny lept to her feet, moving as quickly as possible along the path towards the school. Soon, lights came into view and she began to see the outlines of dark figures spread out around the path.

She froze, her breath catching in her throat. There seemed to be far more Death Eaters than there had been earlier and now they were lined up facing the repaired doors of Hogwarts, an army drawn up for battle.

"Look at Harry Potter now," Voldemort was speaking in a magically amplified voice. "Here lies your saviour. He is dead and broken."

Ginny crept forward, trying desperately to find Adam's body.

"And now defenders of Hogwarts, watch as your saviour becomes little more than food for my pet," Voldemort continued speaking and then suddenly hissed something in what Ginny assumed to be Parseltongue.

With a sudden horrible realisation, Ginny ran towards Voldemort, worries about her discovery now forgotten. He was going to make Nagini eat Adam's body! She had to stop him! She continued running, horrendous images of Nagini wrapping her jaws around Adam's legs flashing through her mind. She pushed past Death Eaters, all concerns for her own safety long gone as she desperately fought to get to Adam.

By the time she finally emerged from the mass of Death Eaters, Voldemort had already released Nagini from her spherical shield and the snake was slithering towards Adam.

"NO!" She shouted, holding the cloak tightly around her body, clasping her wand in her hand and screaming. "EXPULSO!"

Everything seemed very still and for a second nobody moved. The Death Eaters seemed completely and utterly shocked that, for a split second, someone had appeared in their midst and sent a curse at their master's pet.

Ginny's curse flew through the air and hit Nagini. The snake exploded, sending chunks of flesh flying. Then Voldemort screamed a cry of absolute fury.

"KILL THEM!" He roared. "KILL THEM ALL!"

Then curses started flying once more, but this time they were directed at Ginny. She kept running, still hidden under the cloak, but with the sheer number of curses that were being sent her way, Ginny knew that it was only a matter of time before she was hit. So instead, she threw herself to the ground, hoping that the cloak and the darkness would save her.

As she hit the grass it dawned on her. She had just destroyed the final Horcrux. Voldemort could be killed! Now if only she could get to him. Here was her chance to finish Adam's job and avenge him in the process!

So, barely seconds after she had flung herself to the ground, Ginny clambered back to her feet and began moving back towards Voldemort. As she began to move, however, she suddenly realised that the spells were no longer being fired at her, many were now directed at Hogwarts itself and Ginny saw, to her relief, that the defenders were responding.

Spells whipped through the air in all directions and the Death Eaters scattered as the defenders fired spells at them from every window.

"BREAK THE DOOR!" Voldemort roared. "TAKE THE SCHOOL! KILL THEM!"

The battle had degenerated into chaos, the Death Eaters were firing spells, some seemingly still searching for her, but the majority now focused on Hogwarts; green spells arcing towards the windows, some striking to stonework, some flying into the school.

Ginny took advantage of the chaos; she slipped between the Death Eaters, occasionally drawing spell fire as her invisible form pushed past them.

_Where is he?_ Ginny thought as she wove through the Death Eaters.

Ginny continued searching, but she couldn't find him. Voldemort seemed to have vanished into the mob of Death Eaters that were advancing towards the doors of the school. She stopped, and for a second the battle seemed to carry on around her. As she took in her surrounds, Ginny realised she was now only a few feet from Adam, his body now seemingly forgotten.  
_  
I'll never forget you, Adam!_

Ginny approached slowly, noticing suddenly that Adam seemed to have been moved in the confusion. He was now lying on his side, as if curled up in fear.

Had someone pushed him? Kicked him? Did they have no respect? He was dead now, why could they not just leave him alone?

_Oh... Adam._ She felt grief wash over her once again, and she fell to her knees by his side. She'd not been able to get near to him since... since it happened.

Reaching out, Ginny touched Adam's back and quickly withdrew her hand. Should she touch him? Should she stay with him? _I have to find Voldemort_, Ginny thought. _But I still owe it to Adam to make sure his body is safe first... I can stay with him for just a little while_.

So, reaching out, Ginny gently rolled Adam onto his back again, crawled closer and, remembering the times in the past that she and Adam had cuddled, she slowly laid her head on his chest and sobbed.

**Ron  
February 25th 1998**

The atmosphere in the Entrance Hall grew tense as the minutes ticked by. Trying to kill some time, Ron glanced down at his watch. It had only just gone two in the morning. There were hours and hours left until it began to get light. Ron guessed that it would be all over by then; either You-Know-Who would have won, or they would have.

Ron knew they couldn't hold out much longer.

Last time he had spoken to Harry, Ron had been certain that the other boy had a plan. However, Ginny's frantic appearance a few minutes ago had sown seeds of doubt in his mind. She had been frantically trying to stop him from doing something. The only question was what?

Ron sighed. He didn't know the plan. Harry...Adam and Ginny hadn't seen fit to include him in it. Adam had disappeared and now Ginny had run off with Tonks trying to find him.

The minutes passed slowly, and it felt to Ron as if every minute was being stretched by some weird sort of Time Turner, but then he heard sounds.

It was the faint sound of cheering.

Around the room others stood up from their positions, rousing those around them that had fallen asleep.

"They may sound confident," Moody roared suddenly. "But they won't beat us! When they come through that door we'll give them everything we have! Do not hold back! Show them no mercy!"

The cheering continued and Ron even thought he heard a scream, but then, suddenly, everything went silent.

The sudden silence caused Ron to shudder involuntarily and, as goose-pimples erupted across his skin, Ron reached out and suddenly felt Hermione's hand slip into his own.

"What... what do you think's going to happen?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"I don't know," Ron replied. "But I think he's coming."

A eerie silence had settled upon the room and, while he waited, Ron looked around the Entrance Hall, searching for familiar faces. He saw his mother, still teary-eyed but gripping her wand determinedly. He saw his father and Bill standing near Moody, seemingly discussing strategy. Hermione was at his side, and he knew that Neville was upstairs, keeping watch above the main door. George was in Great Hall with Percy, and Charlie... he didn't know where Charlie was. I hope he's alright.

Still nothing had happened and Ron began to feel more and more tense. Fighting was horrible, but waiting was even worse, but what choice did he have? His entire family was here, including Adam. Adam and Ginny were actually out there somewhere facing who knew what.

The first sign that something was happening was a shout from upstairs. "They're coming!" The voice trembled. "There's... there's so many of them!"

"Right!" Moody roared. "This is it! They will try and..."

But, before he could finish, a cry from upstairs silenced him.

"What was that?" Moody shouted. "What is going on out there?"

There was no reply.

"Talk to me!" Moody continued, striding over towards the staircase.

Eventually, the figure of Neville appeared at the on the landing above and descended the first few stairs, looking pale and shaken.

"It's Harry..." Neville said, his voice trembling. "He's... he's dead."

There were gasps and cries of dismay from around the room and, for the second time that day, Ron felt like he'd punched in the gut as he realised another member of his family had been killed.

"Longbottom," Moody cried his voice betraying no emotion. "Are you sure?"

But, before Neville could even answer, Voldemort's magically amplified voice filled the room. "Look at Harry Potter now. Here lies your saviour. He is dead and broken."

Voldemort continued speaking, but no-one seemed to be listening to him. Everyone seemed frozen in shock and from around the room there were reactions of distress, despair and grief. Ron even thought, for a second, that he could hear his mother's cries.

It all just seemed unbelievable. Harry Potter was the hero, he couldn't just die. But to Ron it wasn't Harry the hero that had died, it was Adam ... his friend. Oh...Adam...Oh, Ginny... this would destroy her.

At the sound of tears, Ron realised that he had neglected the person at his side.

"Hermione?" Ron asked.

Hermione's eyes were tear-stained but her expression was hard.

"It's not true," she stated, her voice shaking. "He can't be dead, he just can't. It's all a trick. It must be his plan."

Ron felt a surge of hope fill him. Could she be right?

"Did," Ron whispered. "Did he tell you that he was going to do this?"

"No," Hermione replied shakily. "But he must have a plan. He can't just die..." her voice trailed off.

At Hermione's words, Ron felt his hope die down once more, Hermione didn't know anything more than he did. But, he vowed to himself. I've doubted Adam in the past. I won't give up on him until I see it with my own eyes.

"It's okay..." Ron said softly, giving her hand a squeeze and feeling that he should say something, but not for the life of him knowing what to say.

Hermione was about to reply, when Voldemort's voice echoed throughout the castle once more. This time though, it wasn't calm and collected but filled with fury.

"KILL THEM!" He roared. "KILL THEM ALL!"

The sounds of spell-fire from outside began to penetrate the castle. To Ron it sounded little more than pebbles impacting on the mighty stones walls, but he knew that in all likeliness the spells were blasting chunks out of the walls and slowly eating away at the only thing that kept the Death Eaters out of the school.

As the sound of spellfire began to intensify, Ron began hearing shouts of alarm and panic from the floor above them.

"You!" Moody suddenly roared, pointing in turn at Ron, Hermione and several Order members. "Take cover in the doorway, we won't hold them here!"

Knowing better than to argue with Moody, Ron and Hermione set off at a run but, before they could even reach the door to the Great-Hall You-Know-Who's voice sounded once more filled with rage.

"BREAK THE DOOR!" he roared. "TAKE THE SCHOOL! KILL THEM!"

"This is it!" Moody roared in response, taking up a position just to the side of the main door. "Take cover! Everyone get ready! Here they come!"

Ron, grabbing Hermione's hand, dashed into the Great Hall ready to take cover on either the doorway. As they ran, there was a mighty roar and a wave of something immensely powerful flung the two of them off their feet, slamming them into the floor.

Fortunately, Ron didn't lose consciousness and was able to pull himself back to his feet.

"Hermione!" he exclaimed, quickly kneeling at her side. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Hermione responded dazedly. "I..." she paused, staring at something behind him.

Much to Ron's surprise, Hermione quickly leapt to her feet and peered back into the Entrance-Hall. As Ron turned to follow her, he froze, sucking in a deep breath.

The doors to the school had been blown apart in an explosion big enough to blast away large chunks of the stone around them. Rubble now filled the Entrance Hall and Ron could see only a handful of other survivors struggling to their feet. There was no trace of many of the defenders that had been downstairs just moments ago.

"Where... where are they all?" Ron whispered in despair. There had been nearly thirty people in there... his gaze involuntarily flicked towards the staircase, which was now empty. _What had happened to Neville...? _

However, Ron had no time to worry about any of them. As he looked across the Entrance Hall, Death Eaters were beginning to storm their way through the rubble into the school, firing curses in all directions.

"We have to cover the others!" Ron called vainly, his voice barely audible over the noise of spellfire. "We need to get everyone back into the Great Hall!"

Fortunately, the few surviving defenders seemed to have the same idea, and one by one they struggled through the doorway, while the spells flung from within the Great Hall kept the Death Eaters temporarily at bay. When Neville finally appeared and had staggered past Ron into the Hall, he heaved a sigh of relief, but soon the number of Death Eaters piling into the school increased and the defenders were becoming overwhelmed.

Then, a Curse hit the doorway just beside where Ron and Hermione were standing and, acting on pure instinct, Ron leapt backwards pulling Hermione with him. Both of them looked at each other before Hermione finally verbalised what he'd been thinking.

"What do we do now? We can't hold them back."

Ron looked with despair at the ever increasing group of Death Eaters moving through the rubble and then back at the small crowd of Defenders who were now gathering at the doorway to the Great Hall.

"We... we have to fight back..." he began hesitatingly, "we have to barricade this door, we have to last as long as we can and take out as many of them as we can." 


	21. Chapter 20

**Ginny  
February 25th 1998**

Ginny, with tears streaming down her face, rested her head on Adam's chest, realising that she had absolutely no idea what she was going to do without him.

"Oh...Adam," she cried. "...Adam."

Then, in a rush, Adam's chest moved, almost as if he was letting out a breath that he'd been holding in for too long. Instantly, Ginny sprang up into a sitting position.

"Adam!" She gasped in wonder and amazement. "What...You're alive!"

"Ginny!" He gasped breathlessly. "It's you!"

Ginny paused for a second, simply drinking in the sight of a living and breathing Adam, but then a spell passed dangerously close to them and Ginny realised just how vulnerable they both were. Quickly swinging into action, Ginny threw herself down to onto ground next to Adam and pulled at the cloak, making sure that it covered both of them.

"Ginny!" Adam continued. "I can't believe it's you. I thought... I thought..."

"Adam Winters!" Ginny screeched, suddenly feeling herself fill with an irrational anger. "How _dare _you!" She thumped her fists against his chest. "How dare you just up and leave me!"

"Ginny..." Adam protested. "I had to!"

"I thought you were dead!" Ginny now sobbed, wrapping her arms around his neck, and pulling herself so close that she was lying on top of him. "I love you so much, and I..." she wanted, needed, him to understand just how much he'd hurt her. "I need you Adam... and you just left me. You didn't even think that maybe I'd want to come with you!"

"Ginny..." Adam interrupted, his voice thick. "I love you. I couldn't let anything happen to you!"

"You didn't even give me chance to say goodbye..." Ginny continued, now feeling completely and utterly drained. "Oh Adam, you didn't even have to do this!"

"I did, Ginny," Adam tried to explain. "I had a piece of Voldemort's soul in me. With it still in me he couldn't die. Dumbledore planned it..."

"I know that! To hell with Dumbledore!" Ginny closed her eyes and clenched her fists, trying to calm herself down so that the sound of her voice didn't give their position away. "Adam, I had a bit of Voldemort's soul in me too."

"What!" Adam snapped. "Then..." his voice trailed off.

"NO!" Ginny snapped. "It's gone now, the Dementor... it must have sucked it out of me when it Kissed me."

Adam stared at her in shocked silence.

"I was trying to catch up with you..." Ginny continued. "I thought that if we could..." She gave a short sharp laugh. "I guess it doesn't matter now."

"Dumbledore told me that he knew that I wouldn't die, but it was important that I really thought I was going to die," Adam added softly. "Oh... Ginny, I'm alive. I really thought I was going to die, and then, when he said I could come back to you... I love you."

Ginny stared into Adam's eyes, for what felt like ages, but in reality couldn't have been more than a few seconds. What Adam was saying didn't really make sense, but that didn't matter right now. "Oh, Adam ... I love you, too."

Then, as sounds of the outside world began to intrude into the bubble that seemed to have formed around the two of them, they realised they were both alive and together, but the battle wasn't over.

"We need to find Voldemort," Adam stated suddenly. "With all his Horcruxes gone..." he paused, grinning at her. "That... you were fantastic by the way."

"Yes..thanks," Ginny replied, awkwardly brushing off Adam's praise as she clambered cautiously to her feet. "Let's go!"

The two of them, hidden together under the cloak, made their way rapidly towards the ruined doors of the school. The battle seemed to have moved inside, and, as Adam and Ginny crept into the castle, they found themselves in the shattered remains of the Entrance Hall.

From the far side of the room, a large group of Death Eaters were firing spells at a hastily assembled barricade that blocked the doorway leading into Great was there, standing just behind his troops, watching but apparently taking no part in the proceedings.

"Are they all in the Great Hall?" Ginny asked in hushed voice. "How did the Death Eaters break through so quickly?"

Adam didn't answer, and when Ginny turned to look at him she found him staring forlornly around the room.

The Entrance Hall had been completely destroyed. Chunks of stone had been blasted from the walls and a large part of the marble staircase had collapsed covering the floor with rubble, but worst of all were the bodies.

Ginny hadn't noticed them at first glance, but there were definitely dead bodies buried under the rubble. Ginny could see hands and feet sticking out of the rubble. Most were un-recognisable at this distance, but when she saw where Adam was staring, it was all Ginny could do not to gasp out loud.

It was Moody.

"Oh..." She said. "It can't even be an hour since I was last here..."

"We have to help them..." Adam murmured. "They're losing. If we can just take out Voldemort... "

Then, before, they could decide what to do, before they could make a plan, a loud crash sounded, the barricade gave way and, with a triumphant cheer from the Death Eaters, they charged forward.

"Forward!" Voldemort shouted, his voice echoing around the room like something from a nightmare. "Kill them all!"

The Death Eaters charged into the Great Hall and the air was filled with spells. At Voldemort's urging, the Death Eaters attacked brutally and the defenders responded, fighting for their lives by firing spells desperately at the mass of Death Eaters.

"No!" Ginny shrieked, watching the Death Eaters and Voldemort fire volley after volley of spells as they slowly advanced in a relentless wave into the Great Hall. "We have to help! Come on!" She shouted.

"My wand!" Adam cried, his expression suddenly twisting into one of complete horror. "I don't have my wand! He took it!"

Ginny stood still for a split second, her gaze flicking between the army of Death Eaters, which were now nearly all inside the Great Hall, and Adam. _Why hadn't he said something earlier?_ she wondered, feeling vaguely was about to respond when a sudden scream from inside the Great Hall shocked her into action. People were dying in there! Perhaps even her parents or brothers!

"We've got to help them!" Ginny shouted back at him. "I've got to help my family! Come _on_!"

Pulling Adam along with her, Ginny crossed the Entrance Hall. As she moved, she began searching the floor, looking desperately for a wand. Adam quickly picked up on what she was doing and soon he, too, began searching the bodies on the ground for a wand.

"Got one!" Adam cried, holding up a wand.

"Brilliant!" Ginny exclaimed, grabbing his hand. "Now _come_ on! And stay hidden!"

Crossing the room, the two of them charged into the Great Hall. As they passed the doorway, Adam and Ginny were pushed and shoved about in the confusion, but soon they were able to make their way around the ranks of Death Eaters. Once they were clear, Ginny saw that the fight had degenerated into a series of duels, and the entire room was alive with spells. Order members, the DA, even the house-elves were all fighting for their lives!

Ginny scanned the room, trying to decide who she should help or where should could do the most damage to Voldemort's followers, but then her eyes settled on one duel and she gasped. Ron, Hermione and Neville were duelling with Bellatrix Lestrange and, much to Ginny's horror, she realised they were going to lose unless she could help them.

"Adam!" Ginny hissed. "We've got to help Ron, Hermione and Neville!"

And before Adam could stop her, Ginny pushed out from under the cloak and sprinted towards them, determined to help her friend and brothers.

**Adam  
February 25th 1998**

Ginny's sudden dash across the Great Hall took Adam completely by surprise, and, for a split second, he just stood there dumbly.

When he saw Voldemort, Adam resisted the urge to charge after Ginny. He had a job to do.

The Dark Lord was at the centre of the battle. He was not only duelling Professor McGonagall and a dark skinned-Order member that Adam didn't recognise to a standstill, but was also firing spells across the room striking people and elves down left, right and centre.

Adam paused, conscious that for the moment he was still safely hidden under the cloak, and watched Voldemort. Adam was certain that Voldemort would not hesitate to kill either himself or Ginny, but also knew that there was only way to stop Voldemort; as long as Voldemort was alive he would always be hunting Adam. The question was how?

He was still covered by the cloak, so could he sneak up on Voldemort? It didn't seem fair, but then Voldemort wouldn't hesitate to use any means to kill him.

However, before Adam could begin moving towards Voldemort, there was a flash of light and triumphant roar from the Dark Lord. Adam spun towards the flash, just in time to see Professor McGonagall tossed across the hall like a child's discarded toy.

Now facing only one opponent, Voldemort grew more confident and it seemed to Adam as if he was now duelling his remaining opponent with complete and utter disdain, barely focusing on him and concentrating on firing spells across the room.

As Voldemort fought, Adam closed the distance between himself and the Dark Lord. He knew he would only get a single shot in before he was discovered._ I have to make that shot count!_

But, before Adam could get close enough, there was another flash of light and the Order member, who had been valiantly holding Voldemort at bay, fell to the floor, unconscious, possibly even dead - Adam didn't immediately strode forward and stood over the body of his fallen adversary.

"Do you now understand?" Voldemort began. "Potter is dead, and your best fighters have fallen," He paused, pointing his wand towards the man who was slumped at his feet. "Surrender now and I will promise you an easy death."

Despite the fact that Voldemort was speaking, the battle continued around them, and, as Adam watched Voldemort preparing to kill the man, he thought for a moment that he was the only one close enough to hear Voldemort's speech.

"We won't give up!" A voice screamed, suddenly grabbing Voldemort's attention away from the man at his feet, just as Adam was about to strike.

_Oh...no!_ Adam felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he watched Voldemort focus on the source of the voice... Ginny. _Don't attract his attention! You're too important!_

"YOU!" He roared. "I will have revenge for Nagini!"

As Voldemort began to move, Adam knew he had to act. So, without hesitation, he ripped off the cloak and shouted. "VOLDEMORT!"

For a split section, the Great Hall seemed to fall strangely silent, almost like the calm before a storm. But it didn't last; the Great Hall erupted in were cheers of 'Harry' and 'He's alive!', but all of these sounds were instantly silenced as Voldemort roared. "POTTER!"

The individual battles around the Hall seemed to stutter to a stop and Adam realised that everyone was now watching him and Voldemort face off.

Voldemort stared at Adam, pointing his wand directly at him and, in response Adam raised his wand and kept it fixed on his enemy.

"Potter..." Voldemort hissed softly, taking long striding paces towards Adam. "I confess myself confused... If you are here then I must wonder who I killed not more than an hour ago. Did you actually manage to convince yet another person to sacrifice their life for you?"

"NO!" Adam shouted in response, horrified by the allegation. "I've never asked anyone to die for me!"

Voldemort took another two paces forward, but Adam held his ground, briefly scanning to crowd, spotting the familiar faces of Ginny, Hermione and the other Weasleys. As he glanced at Ginny he saw that Ron had his arm clamped around her shoulder as if trying to keep her from intervening.

"No...No-one help me," Adam stated, the Prophecy and Ginny's safety at the forefront of his mind. "It has to be like this. It has to be me and him."

Voldemort laughed in response. "You think you can defeat me? You survived as a baby because of your mother! You survived my rebirth because of Dumbledore! You survived this battle only because you forced someone to die in your stead!"

Adam ignored his taunts, keeping his wand pointed firmly at Voldemort and doing his very best to ignore the small voice in the back of his head telling him that there was no way he could defeat Voldemort.

"It is only by accident and chance that you stand here before me now. You have hidden behind greater wizards your entire life!" Voldemort laughed. "So you'll understand if I am not afraid of defeat at your hands."

"You're lying!" Adam challenged, his voice ringing through the silent hall. "You do fear me! Why else would you try to kill me as a baby? Why else would you try to entice me to surrender before the battle actually begins?"

As Voldemort took another step forward, Adam stepped to the side and soon the two began circling each other.

"I won't let you kill anyone else!" Adam spat at him. "I was ready to die to stop you from hurting anyone else!"

"But you did not!" Voldemort sneered.

"I meant to, and that's what's important! My mum died to protect me and I did the same. We're protected from you! Haven't you noticed how you havent been able to kill any of us since we last met? You don't learn from your mistakes, Tom, do you?"

Voldemort snarled at Adam and, for the first time, it was as if the Dark Lord had nothing to say.

"Protected from me you say?" Voldemort eventually murmured. "But what about my followers? How protected do you think your..." Voldemort paused disdainfully. "..._girlfriend_ is against my Bellatrix."

In a flash Adam's head snapped towards Ginny. She was standing some distance across the room wand to wand with Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Concentrate on Voldemort!" Ginny shouted back, glaring at Bellatrix. "I can take her!"

Adam hesitated for a second, watching with horror as Bellatrix levelled her wand at Ginny, drawing the action out to torment him.

"Wait!" he shouted at Voldemort, trying to think of something ... anything that would make him ignore Ginny and concentrate on him. Adam turned towards her, he had to save her. "I..." then suddenly his voice cut off as his entire body was suddenly held in an invisible vice-like grip.

It was then that Adam realised he had made a fatal mistake. In his desperation to protect Ginny, he had ignored Voldemort and Voldemort had taken full advantage.

The next thing Adam knew he was flying through the air and striking the wall, still unable to move. He didn't even fall to the ground. He simply hung there, pressed hard against the wall, his limbs still held in the position they were in when he was first struck by Voldemort's spell. The worst thing, however, was that from his position suspended halfway between the floor and ceiling he couldn't even see what had happened to Ginny, or what Voldemort was doing!

"Tell me something, Potter," Voldemort jeered at him. "If you died for your friends and my spells can't harm them... can they still harm you?"

"A..g.." Adam choked out, trying to speak, but the words just wouldn't come out. Adam tried again, but he couldn't. He couldn't even seem to get enough breath. Voldemort's grip was squeezing all the air out of him. He couldn't breathe!

"Let him go!" he heard Ginny scream, even the sound of her terrified cry comforted him. _She was alive!_ "Fight him like a man and not the snake that you are!"

Adam was in a full blown panic, he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe. He tried to struggle, but he was getting tired. His legs felt heavy, and he eyesight was blurring.

"Adam!" Ginny screamed. "Let him..." Ginny's voice cut off suddenly by a strangled cry and there was a horrifying _thwack_.

_Ginny!_ Adam struggled feebly against the spell holding him. What had Voldemort done to her! _Ginny!_

But he couldn't get free, and, as a lack of air began to make it difficult to think, Adam was vaguely aware of noise beneath him. Everything was beginning to drift slowly away from him, but then there was a shout, Voldemort roared something in fury and Adam distantly, as if he wasn't really in his body anymore, felt himself drop and then stop suddenly.

Then there was a tremendous explosion and Adam, fell, now barely aware of what was going on. He hit the floor hard, but the pain didn't seem to bother him, instead he began sucking in deep breaths of air as he was pelted by debris.

Over the next few seconds, as Adam recovered his breath, the noise of battle once again filtered into his , his legs feeling like they were burning, Adam pulled himself onto all fours and looked up, straight into the eyes of Voldemort.

Somehow, Voldemort too had been knocked off his feet and, as Adam watched, he rose from a kneeling position.

Adam knew that he would once again have to fight him, so he grappled desperately for his wand as he struggled to his feet, feeling himself swaying slightly in the process.

"I think, Potter," Voldemort said in a slow deliberate voice. "That you have finally exhausted the supply of people that will sacrifice themselves for you." He gestured casually and Adam felt a sick feeling in his stomach when he saw Ron and Hermione crouched over a body._ No! ... _It wasn't Ginny, but Neville. He couldn't be... surely Voldemort hadn't killed him! _But if Neville had tried to save him... what had happened to Ginny?_

He forced himself to focus, he wasn't going to make the same mistake again, he had to put the worry over Ginny and Neville out of him mind. So, Adam did not respond, instead he just stared hatefully at Voldemort.

"You're friends are dead or dying, there is no Dumbledore to save you now, now, Harry Potter, you will die. And I, Lord Voldemort, will take my rightful place as the leader of the magical world. No longer will be cowed by fear of discovery by the Muggles. We will rule over them as is our ..."

"Stop talking! Stop making speeches!_ Expulso_!" Adam cried in anger. "I won't let you win!"

Voldemort batted his spell aside with a casual flick of his wand.

"Even Dumbledore couldn't stop me!" Voldemort cried. "I, Lord Voldemort even planned his death prove that I am his better!"

"You did not plan his death!" Adam cried, fury coursing through his veins. "You may have ordered Snape to kill him, you may even have ordered Snape to pin it on me, but Dumbledore died fighting against you! Snape killed him because _he _told him to!"

At this pronouncement, there were cries of outrage from both sides, and Adam realised that everyone seemed to be once again watching the two of them. Voldemort meanwhile seemed, for the first time, to have been shaken.

"Severus Snape wasn't yours," Adam continued. "Snape was Dumbledore's. He was Dumbledore's from the moment you started hunting down my mother. And you never realized it! He was Dumbledore's spy from the moment you threatened her, and he's been working against you ever since!"

"It matters not!" shrieked Voldemort, emitting a cackle of mad laughter. "It matters not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore's, or what petty obstacles they tried to put in my path! I crushed them as I crushed your mother, Snape's supposed great love! Oh, but it all makes sense, Potter, and in ways that you do not understand!

"For you see, Harry Potter, when I realised I could not defeat you with an ordinary wand, I sought out a wand that could defeat you," Voldemort paused. "Dumbledore's wand. The Elder Wand! He tried to keep it from me and I see now that he intended that Snape should be the true master of the wand! But I got there ahead of you, little boy, I reached the wand before you could get your hands on it. I understood the truth before you caught up. I killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny is truly mine! Dumbledore's last plan went wrong, Harry Potter!"

Adam froze, renewed fear now coursing through him. This wasn't fear for himself, but fear that maybe, just maybe, Voldemort was right, and that he knew something that Dumbledore did not, but then he remembered the scenes he had witnessed in the Pensieve.

"You're the master of Dumbledore's wand?" Adam asked hesitantly, still circling Voldemort.

At Adam's uncertainty Voldemort threw back his head and laughed. "Yes, Potter. I possess Dumbledore's wand. The Elder Wand! The most powerful wand in the world. Snape killed Dumbledore claiming mastery over the wand and I then killed Snape! It is over, child, you have lost!"

Adam stopped moving, and for a second it seemed as if his and Voldemort's breathing were the only sounds in the room.

As Voldemort stared at him, Adam replayed the images from the Pensieve over and over again in his mind._ Could the wand really only be passed by killing the previous master? If so then had Dumbledore gifting the wand to Snape been a pointless act? If Snape wasn't the master of the wand, then who was?_

Suddenly, it all clicked in pace in Adam's mind, as he remembered his actions the night Dumbledore died, and he couldn't believe it. He was unsure at first if it had been brilliant planning by Snape and Dumbledore, or if it was just a case of tremendous luck.

"You have one last chance," Adam said slowly. "I am going to defeat you! But before you try to kill me, I'd advise you to think about what you've done. Do you feel any remorse?"

This announcement seemed to shock Voldemort. Adam saw his pupils contract to thin slits, he saw the skin around his eyes whiten. He wasn't quite sure what had shocked the Dark Lord; was it is new confidence that he could win? Or was it just the simple fact that he had asked him if he felt any remorse?

"You dare?" said Voldemort again.

"Yes, I dare," said Adam. "Dumbledore's last plan hasn't backfired on me at all. It was a brilliant plan and it's backfired on you, Tom."

A ripple of whispers shot through the room and when Adam spoke, he tried to speak up clearly so everyone in the room could hear him.

"I am the master of the Elder Wand."

As Adam spoke Voldemort seemed to relax, and he laughed. "Is that all you have? A lie to scare me? Do you seek to flee once again and let all these die for you?"

"No..." Adam spoke slowly. "You see, Snape did not kill Dumbledore. I did."

Several gasps echoed in the room.

"Did I deliberately kill him? No, but I was the one who struck the final blow. Snape was never the master of that wand. I have been all along."

Voldemort still laughed. "It matters not who killed whom! I have the wand here. And I will now kill you with it!"

"Don't you get it!" Adam cried. "The wand chooses the wizard. It doesn't matter who has it..."

Before Adam had even finished speaking he felt it coming. He felt it building inside the wand pointed at his face.

"_Avada Kedavra_!"

"_Stupefy_!"

Adam saw Voldemort's green jet meet his own spell and, as their spells collided, there was a bang like a cannon blast, and suddenly golden flames erupted between them.

Then, he hit the floor, his body feeble and shrunken, his hands empty.

Voldemort had fallen and he lay there still, his snakelike face vacant and unknowing.

All Adam could do was stare at the body, it was only then he finally realised what had happened. Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse.

Time suddenly seemed to have come to a standstill. No one did anything. No one in the Great Hall moved. Then, as if reaching him in a sudden rush, Adam felt himself bombarded by an avalanche of sounds. He heard cheers of victory; he heard the sounds of wands clattering to the floor, perhaps from surrendering Death Eaters; he heard the sound of spells; but, above them all, he heard a deranged wail.

Lestrange!

Spinning toward the sound, Adam saw the crazed woman barrelling towards him. He brought up his wand, but, before he could even react a spell hit her, tossing her to one side.

Ginny!

She looked glorious, her face was twisted with pain and streaked with blood, and she seemed have seriously injured one of her feet. But even so, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Lestrange didn't stay down; instead, she rolled back to her feet and fired a stream of curses towards Ginny, screaming madly in the process. Adam instantly realised what the demented woman was now trying to do. He'd taken Voldemort from her, so she was now going to take Ginny from him.

And Ginny was struggling, she didn't seem to be able to dodge spells with her injuries. So, desperately, Adam started to move towards her. He couldn't let anything happen to Ginny. Not now, not after all they'd been through. But he was too slow, he watched helplessly as Lestrange sent a horrible black spell towards her.

Ginny tried to dodge out of the way, but in the process she put weight on her injured foot and screamed in pain. It was then that Adam realised he was too far away and he wouldn't be able to get close enough to do anything.

Adam saw Ginny's leg fold under her as she tried to dodge and then he saw the black spell impact with her shoulder. For a fleeting instant Ginny's face took on a shocked expression, then she flew backwards as her shoulder literally _exploded_.

Adam cried out in terror, his mind now a jumble of images; Ginny dying, Ginny being Kissed by a Dementor, Ginny being hit by Lestrange's Killing Curse. He ran, faster than he had ever run in his life, his whole being focused solely on a single goal: getting to Ginny and stopping Lestrange.

But before he could even take two paces, someone else screamed, someone was closer than him and quicker than him. A person whos voice rang above the clamour of the Great Hall like a battle cry.

"THAT'S MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"

Mrs Weasley's scream was instantly recognisable, and Adam watched as her curse flew through the air, striking Lestrange, who had paused relish in Ginny's curse struck Lestrange just above her heart and she toppled, falling to the floor with a look of shock forever etched on her face.

But Adam didn't stop running; he had more important things to do. Somehow, as if he had suddenly been gifted with superhuman speed, he was the first person to reach Ginny, who was lying sprawled on the floor, still alive, but seriously hurt.

"Ginny!" He cried, falling to his knees at her side. "Oh, Ginny!"

Adam checked her over, feeling a sense of relief that flooded down to his very soul that she was still alive but horrified at the injury that had been sustained to her shoulder.

"A..A.." Ginny gasped out in short panting breaths, as blood oozed out of her shoulder. "HHu.."

"Okay, it's okay!" Adam replied, quickly pulling back the bloodied remains of the robe covering her wound. "I'm here."

".." Ginny cried out in pain, as blood continued to leak from the gaping hole in her shoulder, then her eyes rolled back and she lost consciousness.

Adam was now in a wild panic."Help!" he cried, to no one in particular. "Help her, someone! Please!"

He knew that he had to stop the bleeding somehow, so he grabbed for something to use as a bandage. He paused momentarily realising that it was his cloak, but he shook his hesitation away and pressed it hard against her shoulder. Ginny was far more precious that any cloak.

"Adam," A voice came from behind him and Adam could have sobbed with relief as he recognized Professor McGonagall. "Well done, you've stopped most of the bleeding. Now hold that in place, well get her help," She paused and waved her hand in front of Adam's face. "Can you hear me?" she questioned him, waving her wand several times in the process. "Listen to me, she's going to be alright. I'll used a spell to keep that in place, but I need you to let go of her so that I can levitate her. Well take her to Madam Pomfrey, okay?"

Reluctantly Adam nodded, let go of Ginny and sank to the floor. He watched numbly for a second as she was levitated away. He felt completely and utterly useless. Tearing his eyes away from the Professor McGonagall's rapidly shrinking form, he looked around the room and found that a large amount of people were staring at him. He saw Mr and Mrs Weasley dashing after Professor McGonagall. He saw Ron and Hermione standing on the far side of the room, holding each other, most likely in the same state complete shock that he was in.

Slowly people began to approach him.

"Harry." Someone he didn't recognise held out their hand to him, and he allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. "Thank you," the man continued. "You saved us."

Adam didn't know what to say in response, so he shook his head. "I..." he stammered. I...I need to go check on Ginny."

With that, Adam walked quickly after Professor McGonagall. He needed to be with Ginny now, out of this room and away from the stares. He needed to know that Ginny was alright. He needed to think about what had just happened. Nothing else seemed to matter.


End file.
